Westminster Abbey

Have you ever been to Westminster Abbey?  It was the most beautiful establishment I have ever been in.  Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures of it except of the outside of course.  If you are ever in the vicinity of London, this is one place you HAVE to take a tour of.  Here are the pictures I took while outside:

The front entrance.

After you do most of the tour it takes you out to this.

These are still 'outside,' but it kind of gives you an idea of what the inside is filled with. Lots of tombs and statues and quotes.

This was taken as I was leaving.  This may be the main entrance normally, but I'm not sure.  You can attend services here for free! Also, if you didn't know, this is where Kate and William got married.  Only Royals can be married here.

This is where I bought a 'Royal Wedding' book about William and Kate.  I also bought some postcards that showed what the inside of the Abbey looked like.

Royal Wedding Chronology (from Wikipedia)

1. 11 November 1100: King Henry I of England was married to Matilda of Scotland
2. 4 January 1243: Richard, Earl of Cornwall (later King of Germany), brother of King Henry III of England, to Sanchia of Provence (his second wife). Sanchia was sister of Eleanor of Provence, Henry III’s queen.
3. 9 April 1269: Edmund of Crouchback, 1st Earl of Leicester and Lancaster, son of King Henry III was married to Lady Aveline de Forz
4. 30 April 1290: Joan of Acre, daughter of King Edward I was married to the 7th Earl of Gloucester
5. 8 July 1290: Margaret of England, daughter of King Edward I was married to John II, son of Duke of Brabant
6. 20 January 1382: King Richard II of England was married to Anne of Bohemia
7. 27 February 1919: Princess Patricia of Connaught was married to Commander Alexander Ramsay
8. 28 February 1922: The Princess Mary, daughter of King George V was married to Viscount Lascelles
9. 26 April 1923: The Prince Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI), second son of King George V was married to Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (later to become The Queen Mother)
10. 29 November 1934: The Prince George, Duke of Kent, son of King George V was married to Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark
11. 20 November 1947: The Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II), elder daughter of King George VI was married to Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten RN (laterDuke of Edinburgh)
12. 6 May 1960: The Princess Margaret, second daughter of King George VI was married to Antony Armstrong-Jones (later Earl of Snowdon)
13. 24 April 1963: Princess Alexandra of Kent was married to the Hon Angus Ogilvy
14. 14 November 1973: The Princess Anne, only daughter of Elizabeth II was married to Captain Mark Phillips
15. 23 July 1986: The Prince Andrew, Duke of York, second son of Elizabeth II, was married to Miss Sarah Ferguson
16. 29 April 2011: Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, grandson of Elizabeth II was married to Miss Catherine Middleton

There were some other interesting burials that I came across:

Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Charles Darwin, and Issac Newton.

My grandma gave me a book listing all of my ancestors and where they are buried.  I walked into Westminster Abbey with my book and asked the guide where I could locate these burial sites.  Turns out I have to make an appointment to see my ancestors because they are in the oldest part of the church and only certain people can visit it. 

My ancestors were:

Henry III

Edward I

Edward III

Henry I

Eleanor of Castile (wife of Edward I)

Those are some pretty important Royals there! I had to convince my Grandma not to tell Ashley (my sister) that we have Royalty in our blood because she's already convinced that she is a Princess.  For those of you wondering, NO I am not related to Harry which means we can still get married. :) 

I hope to make an appointment with the church for a future visit so that I can go into this section to see the tombs.  I won't be able to take pictures, but everything is so beautiful and historical, it will be hard to erase it from my memory.  For some reason, all of these names seemed like they were from a fairy tale, but when you are standing in front of their gorgeous tombs with moldings of them laying above them it seems real and quite moving.  While you are on the tour you get a handset that looks like a cellular device from the 1990's. You carry it around and the audio describes what you are looking at and the history of it. 

That's your history lesson for the day. I hope you enjoyed it! :)