It has often been said that Windsor Castle is the most haunted of all the royal residences, with over 25 reported experiences with ghosts and spirits.
These claims include sightings of Queen Elizabeth I, King Henry VIII and King George III, and even the late Queen admitted to witnessing at least one ghostly encounter.
When you think back across royal history, Windsor Castle has been one of the key players as the construction was started back in 1070 and has been used by almost every monarch since Henry I.
But whether it is hobbling ghosts, saluting soldiers or stolen bones, there are countless ghostly encounters with late royalty that will send a shiver down your spine.
Windsor Castle was well-known for being the late Queen’s favourite home as she moved there permanently from Buckingham Palace at the start of the pandemic. But if spooky stories are to be believed, the late Queen was not the only monarch in residence.
These ghostly sightings happen so often that it has even been recorded where you are most likely to see individual monarchs. If you wish to see Queen Elizabeth I then you need to wait in the library. According to Visit Britain, “[The Queen’s] footsteps can be heard on the bare floorboards, before her striking presence appears.”
Queen Elizabeth II even claimed that she and her sister Princess Margaret witnessed paranormal activity in the castle, believing it to be an apparition of her namesake Elizabeth I.
Similarly, if you wanted to see the mad and eccentric King George III you would want to be in the room below the library. Towards the end of his reign the King became so mentally ill that he was confined in this room for long periods of the day. Witnesses describe seeing a figure “looking longingly out of the window.”
George III has not only been spotted in this room, but also in a bedroom of the castle. An officer gave his account of the ghostly, yet heart-warming, sighting days after the King’s passing while he was still lying in state.
The story goes that the guards were passing the King’s window on their duties when the commanding officer saw the distinctive figure of the King standing in his usual place, watching the parade.
Instinctively he gave the order "Eyes right," and as they swung round each soldier saw the figure and watched as the late King returned their salute.
There are also records of hearing the “hobbling” ghost of King Henry VIII in the deanery cloisters. The hugely obese King suffered from gout and painful ulcers on his leg, making it difficult to walk.
It is unsurprising that there have been so many sightings of historical monarchs, as several of them are buried within the grounds of the castle. Just below St George’s Chapel, where royal brides such as Princess Eugenie and Meghan Markle previously walked, lies the coffins of Henry VIII, George V and Charles I, among many others.
Shockingly, during the reign of King George IV, he and Sir Henry Halford went underneath the chapel and opened the tombs of Charles I and Henry VIII. He was so interested in the bodies of his dead ancestors that he allowed Halford to draw Charles I’s face.
Disgustingly, because of the change in pressure, King Charles’ eye 'popped'. He also allowed Halford to take a souvenir – the King’s cervical vertebrae.
The bone was handed down through generations before it was given to the Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII). Queen Victoria was outraged when she learnt that her son had the bone and had it reinterred in a box next to The King.
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