Off to The Tower With You!!!

Sunday we went to the Tower of London with Uncle Funsucker, Auntie C & dudes. Come on! Can you think of anything more Eastery than going to a place where many people were imprisoned and several infamous executions took place? It gives me a warm, cozy feeling inside, just like Easter bunnies and baby chicks.

It was a beautiful day. Easter is a great time to visit London. Before we lived here, we came here during this time of year and it has always been beautiful. Everyone said to us, "oh this weather is extra-ordinary", "you really lucked out" "it is never usually this warm". I found myself expressing those exact same words to Uncle Funsucker and gang.

Our family has been there a few times and we always find it interesting.
The Beefeaters are very friendly and approachable. When we came out of one area, we noticed the Royals Guards were doing a shift change. Because the Tower of London is technically a palace, they have the same type of guards that they have at Buckingham Palace. The change ceremony here isn't anywhere near as elaborate as the one at Buckingham Palace but it gives you a taste. An appetizer, if you will. While we were watching that, I noticed a terrace right above where they were changing the guard. There was a group of people, a man, a woman, a couple of teenagers. It didn't look like the tour would take us over to that area, so I asked the Beefeater about it. He informed me that was the Resident Governor of the Tower of London.
He and his family live at the Tower of London, along with several other people - about 150 in all. Wow! Can you imagine that? Living at the Tower of London. Snake wanted to know if the mailman would have to pay the fee to deliver the mail. Hmmm. I don't know. Well, I took a picture of them enjoying their breakfast/brunch on the terrace. In full view of probably 3000 people. That would be weird. Although I don't have curtains on my bedroom window so goodness knows what number of people have espied me or Chizz up there.

One of my favorite parts of the tour (other than the crown jewels, what is not to love about a 530 carat diamond - that's right 5 HUNDRED carats), are the rooms where they kept some of the prisoners. They didn't really keep people in cells like prisons had today. People had a series of rooms, a bedroom, a sitting room, etc. When Sir Walter Raleigh was imprisoned, he brought along his whole family. Nice guy. Mrs. Sir Walter Raleigh :"Oh Walter, I am so sorry you are going to prison, I will wait for you!" "What! We are going too?" In addition to Sir Walter Raleigh, other famous prisoners included two of Henry VIII's wives, Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard, one Henry VIII's daughters Elizabeth I, Guy Fawkes (who attempted to blow up Parliament) and Rudolph Hess, the Nazi right hand man to Hitler.

One of the most interesting prisoners at the Tower was Lady Jane Grey. When Henry VIII's son, Edward VI died at age 15 he left a mess as far as succession goes. The throne should have been left to Mary, Henry VIII's daughter with Catherine of Aragon, but she was Catholic and Henry VIII had changed the national religion from Catholicism to the Church of England. A will of dubious origin was produced which essentially named Lady Jane Grey heir. She came from another branch of the royal family tree. A tree which has never been cut, and all the branches intertwine. See what happens when you intermarry and never prune!! Essentially Lady Jane was talked into taking the throne by her father and father-in-law, who saw great things for themselves if Jane was Queen. So she was crowned and was Queen. For 9 days. Until Mary got wind of her brother's death, an army was formed and she took back her kingdom, religion or not. So Queen Mary throws everyone involved in the Tower, Lady Jane Grey, her husband Guilford Dudley, her father-in-law, and her father. They lived there together for quite some time; it was thought that Mary would eventually pardon them. But about a year or so later, there were other rebellions that endangered Mary's throne so she worried that Jane and her group might be seen as a cause for further rebellion. A year after they were thrown into the Tower, Mary signed their death warrants. Guilford was killed first, then Lady Jane Grey and some days later Lady Jane Grey's dad. The rest of the group was pardoned. She was 15, her husband 18. I don't think Lady Kiki & Sir Snake could mastermind a rebellion at that age.

In some of the rooms, the prisoners would carve graffiti in the walls. Some of the markings were fairly elaborate. As an imprisoned nobleman, you could hire someone to come in and carve your coat of arms in your prison wall. That is just odd to me. A decorator of sorts for your cell. Many of the markings are just the names of the prisoners, some are sayings, some drawings.
One of the most poignant markings is one done (they think) by Guilford Dudley. It is a bit hard to see, they have most of the graffiti covered by glass so people won't deface it. But it reads IANE, the I being the way they made Js in Olde English. You could read it several ways, Iane - I miss you, I am desperate to be with you. Or it could be Iane! Well this is fine mess you have gotten us into. It is all your fault. I choose to think of it as sort of a desperate longing to be with her. More romantic that way. Of course, Snake pointed out it would have been more romantic if he had spelled her name right.

Of course, we spent some time at the rest of the landmarks in the Tower complex, the armory, the Crown Jewels room, saw the ravens. Most people know the legend of the ravens, if the ravens left the Tower, the kingdom would fall. So the ravens wings are clipped so they can't fly away. There are either 6 or 8 ravens in residence today and they are taken care of by the Royal Ravenmaster (who else?).

We have other adventures in store for the Funsucker family. Stay tuned!