Since the 17th century Britain’s reigning King or Queen has attended the trooping of the colour parade. While today’s festivities are largely ceremonial, they are still one of the highlights of the monarchical calendar with thousands turning out to see Queen Elizabeth and the other senior members of the royal family.
The ceremony takes place on Horse Guard’s Parade and the mall and it’s one of the most popular free events in London so try and arrive early, The main events start at 10:00 with the RAF fly-past scheduled for around 13:00. With London waiting in expectation for the arrival of all the pageantry, it got us here in lastminute.com hq wondering where the bones of the previous monarchs to have the colour trooped for them ended and if you can go and see them. We were particularly interested in the final whereabouts of some of histories most salubrious characters whose fates seemed intertwined with the monarchs of the day.
Westminster Abbey is a good place to start on the search for bones and dust. Located opposite the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, it is home to the memorials of British Monarchs, war heroes and celebrated citizens. Famous monarchical tombs include Elizabeth 1, Mary Queen of Scots and Henry V. Celebrated characters include Isaac Newton, Charles Dickens and Rudyard Kipling
Many of the more recent members of the royal family (including those from the 20th Century) have been buried at St George’s chapel at Windsor Castle. In 2002 it was the site for the funerals of both Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother. Henry VIII is buried next to Jane Seymour in the choir section. Also in the choir section are the bones of Charles I (executed on Whitehall in 1649).
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Queen Victoria is the last reigning monarch to choose not to be buried in St George’s chapel. Instead she is interned in the Royal Mausoleum in the grounds of Frogmore house in Windsor. She is buried alongside her consort Prince Albert. The larger mausoleum belongs to her mother, the Duchess of Kent.
Some of the lower members of the royal family are buried in the adjacent royal burial ground at Frogmore. These include Queen Victoria’s children and the last king to abdicate his throne, King Edward VIII (nee the Duke of Windsor) and his wife Wallis Simpson.
The infamous Tower of London is home to some of the most gruesome graves of British Royals. The beheaded remains of Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Grey are located in the Towers’ Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula alongside the tomb of Thomas Moore. The final resting places of the legendary princes of the tower (Edward V & Richard of Shrewsbury) are thought to be still hidden inside the ancient castle walls.
There are four notable members of the British royal family who have not been buried in the royal burial grounds in the south east of England.
- Princess Diana was buried in island centre of a lake known as the Round Oval within Althorp Park's gardens in Northamptonshire.
- King Henry IV and Edward Plantagenet (the Black Prince) are buried in the Trinity Chapel of Canterbury Cathedral.
- One of England’s most famous kings is not even buried in the British Isles at all. King Richard I (better known as Richard the Lion Heart) is buried in France. According to Wikipedia, Richard’s brain was buried at the abbey of Charroux in Poitou, his heart was buried at Rouen in Normandy, and the rest of his body was buried at the feet of his father at Fontevraud Abbey in Anjou.
Some of the more infamous and beloved remains of British history ended up scattered around the country where many remain accessible:
- The head of Guy Fawkes made its final appearance on a spike atop Tower Bridge
- William Wallace’s head had a similar ending atop London Bridge
- Florence Nightingale is buried in the grounds of St. Margaret Church in East Wellow, Hampshire
- The body of Pocahontas never made it back to Virginia and remains in parish of Saint George's church, Gravesend
- Winston Churchill declined a resting place at Westminster Abbey preferring to be buried at St Martin's Church, Bladon, near his birthplace of Blenheim Palace.
- Scotland’s favourite son, Robert the Bruce, lies at rest in Dunfermline Abbey
- While the favourite son of Wales, Dylan Thomas village, preferred the churchyard at Laugharne
- Double Agent Kim Philby never made it back his homeland and was interred at Kuntsevo Cemetery in Moscow
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