The Crown Full-Day Private Tour of Windsor Castle and London

Our tour starts with Windsor Castle, the world’s oldest inhabited castle. The castle is located in the Berkshire town of Windsor, in the Thames Valley to the west of London. Together with Buckingham Palace in London and Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Windsor Castle is one of the principal official residences of the British monarch.

Windsor Castle dates back to the time of William the Conqueror. Most of the kings and queens of England have had a direct influence on the construction and evolution of Windsor Castle, which has been their garrison, fortress, home, official palace and sometimes prison.

Queen Elizabeth II decided to make Windsor her principal weekend retreat in 1952. The private apartments which had not been properly occupied since the era of Queen Mary were renovated and further modernised, and the Queen, Prince Philip and their four children took up residence. This arrangement has continued to the present day.

You will remember Trafalgar Square from season 2, episode 1 that shows the tension between Britain and Egypt in the 1956 Suez crisis. The political protests in Trafalgar Square were against Prime Minister Anthony Eden due to his highly controversial response to the Suez crisis.

This square also holds a series of events in the past. You can listen to the stories of kings such as Charles I and Charles IV as well as Admiral Horatio Nelson, General Sir Charles James Napier and Major General Sir Henry Havelock who shaped the history of this nation.

Trafalgar Square is a very popular public square with some of London’s most famous attractions. From galleries and historic buildings to monuments and statues, you can immerse yourself into the deep-seated British history.

London’s landmark Admiralty Arch was the commemoration of King Edward VII to his beloved mother Queen Victoria, the great-great-grandmother of Elizabeth II. You will be familiar with London’s iconic masterpiece in various episodes of The Crown.

At first sight, this lovely column appears to have no direct connection to The Crown. However, there is an indirect bond with Lancaster House where all scenes related to Buckingham Palace were shot. The construction of Lancaster House was started in 1825 for the Duke of York and Albany, Prince Frederick, who was the second son of George III, as well as one of the uncles of Queen Victoria.

We’ll stop at the memorial of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) as you will remember from season 1, episode 8 when the Queen Mother revealed her consort’s statue in tears.

Here we will share some key information about the genealogy of Queen Elizabeth II so that you are familiar with the Royal family members in this lovely TV series and the London landmarks associated with them.

As we are heading to Buckingham Palace it would be a good idea to stop by St James’s palace for 15 minutes. Maybe it’s not directly related to The Crown but this palace is one of the most important palaces in the city. It was intended as a residence for Queen Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII’s second wife and the mother of Queen Elizabeth I.

Anne Boleyn was executed by beheading within the confines of the Tower of London and her untimely death meant she never saw the completion of St James’s Palace. She’d been queen for just three years.

Clarence House was built by George IV’s favourite architect John Nash in 1827. The Palace was the home of the Queen Mother from 1953 to 2002. Since then, it has been the official residence of the Prince of Wales, Charles and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla. Clarence House is open to visitors only during August.

In season 1, episode 8 of The Crown, the Duke of Edinburgh is responsible for remodelling Clarence House whilst newly crowned Queen Elizabeth was trying to adapt to her new role as Queen after her father George VI. Camilla was mainly on the screen in season 3, episode 9.

Buckingham Palace is the most memorable landmark in The Crown TV series. However, all scenes related to this magnificent royal residence were actually filmed in Lancaster House. This includes most of the Bubbikins episode where the Duke of Edinburgh’s caring mother Princess Alice of Greece is invited to Buckingham Palace.

An unforgettable quote from episode 4 is Queen Elizabeth’s lovely words: “I’m ‘Darling’ or ‘Cabbage’, ‘Sweetie’ is someone else”. You may also remember the stairs where Apollo 11’s astronauts, Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins were dashing up and down the stairs in season 3, episode 7.

Unsurprisingly, Buckingham Palace is heavily featured in The Crown. It’s the official residence of Britain’s monarchy, as it has been since Queen Victoria’s designation in 1837. Much of this 775 room palace was constructed as early as 1703 for the Duke of Buckingham.

Buckingham House (as it was then known) was purchased in 1762 by George III, who used it as a private residence. Over the following 75 years, the house was expanded to form three wings around a central courtyard.

When Queen Victoria discovered Buckingham Palace lacked several necessary rooms – such as a formal ballroom, a nursery, visitor’s bedrooms and others – major additions were undertaken, including adding an entire wing to form a quadrangle.

St James’s Park can be seen in several episodes of The Crown where monarchs take a walk close to Buckingham Palace.

The park is surrounded by world-famous landmarks such as Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Whitehall right in the heart of the city. It’s one of London’s eight Royal Parks and covers an area of nearly 57 acres.

King Henry VIII was known for his love of hunting. He regularly used Regent’s Park as a hunting ground. St James’s Park wasn’t quite big enough for his needs, so he used it as an area for breeding young deer. Once they were old enough, they were shipped off to Hyde Park and Regent’s Park to face their fate.

Pelicans have lived in St James’s Park for nearly 400 years. They were originally presented as a gift from the Russian Ambassador to King Charles II.

If it fits our tour schedule, our guide will be very happy to take you to one of the best royal rituals in the city. Explore the official entrance to St James and Buckingham Palace since the Restoration of King Charles II in 1660.

Although Changing The Queen’s Lifeguard is not as well-known as Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace, smaller crowds and no railings between you and the men and horses make it ideal for those with younger children and those looking for some amazing pictures.

The ceremony lasts about half an hour, and the mounted sentries change every hour during the day until 4:00 pm when a dismounting ceremony takes place.

Being one of the most important political buildings in the world, Number 10 Downing Street continuously hosts the British prime minister since 1735. The main decisions affecting Britain’s destiny in the last 275 years have been taken behind its iconic black door.

Observant The Crown-viewers will remember that the Queen honoured No 10 Downing Street twice. The first time was on the eve of Churchill’s resignation in April 1955 and the second time was prime minister Wilson’s farewell dinner in 1976, 21 years later.

One memorable scene related to Downing Street No 10 was how Venetia, Churchill’s new secretary got soaked by Churchill’s bathwater as she was trying to read the official notes to him through a bathroom door in season 1, episode 2.

Today it’s not possible to enter Downing Street as a tourist.

The Churchill War Rooms is a historic underground complex that housed a British government command centre throughout the Second World War. Now it’s a museum, exploring the life of British statesman Winston Churchill and uncovering the influences and pressures that shaped his life, leadership and legacy.

Here you will have the chance to discover the secrets hidden beneath the streets of Westminster in the underground nerve centre where Winston Churchill and his inner circle directed the Second World War.

The Cabinet War Rooms became fully functional on 27 August 1939, just a week before Britain declared war on Germany. The War Rooms remained in operation throughout the Second World War, before being abandoned in August 1945 after the surrender of Japan.

Westminster Abbey is a coronation church, burial ground and much more. It continues to attract visitors over 900 years after its founding. Here lie kings and poets, scientists and philosophers who have raised humankind to the highest levels. Isaac Newton and James Clerk Maxwell (discoverer of electromagnetic theory), Chaucer and Kipling, Dr Samuel Johnson (creator of the first English dictionary) and many other famous names are interred here.

The immaculate Queen Elizabeth’s coronation scenes in season 1, episode 5 took place in Westminster Abbey. We also see Churchill walking through the nave of Westminster Abbey for the wedding ceremony of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Princess Diana’s funeral was held in Westminster Abbey in 1997 and the wedding of Kate & Will took place in 2011. Our professional guides will share all-important knowledge with you today.

The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for the two Houses of Parliament of the United Kingdom: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The palace lie on the north bank of the River Thames in the City of Westminster, close to other government buildings in Whitehall.

The Crown viewers will immediately recall the scene of Churchill’s speech to the parliament in celebration of his 80th birthday in season 1, episode 9. The most remarkable moment in this episode was Churchill’s discontented look when he sees his badly painted portrait. The painting was presented to Churchill by both Houses of Parliament at a public ceremony in Westminster Hall on 30 November 1954.

The palace originally served as a royal residence, but no monarch has lived in it since the 16th century. Most of the present Houses of Parliament structure dates from the 19th century when the Palace was rebuilt after it was almost entirely destroyed by a fire in 1834. The architects responsible for rebuilding the Palace were Sir Charles Barry and Augustus Welby Pugin, and the building is an example of the Gothic revival.