I've given those 'lagging behind' a chance to catch up but I am mighty glad you're all loving England so far, Kent really is one of the prettiest places in England, along with Yorkshire (in the North) I don't think you could get better!!!
Hope everyone is prepared for our trip to London today! I’m seriously excited I love London and I love showing people the amazing sites and sounds of our capital city!
I’ll be giving you a whirlwind tour of London and the sites it has to offer, from the home of our queen to the different museums and art galleries to the theatres, I hope you enjoy!
And of course we’ll be getting to them using the world famous London Underground system, although be careful to ‘mind the gap between the train and the platform when disembarking’!!
Right first off we have one of the main attractions in London, Buckingham palace…
The Monarchy is the oldest form of government in the United Kingdom and dates back as far as 849AD, with numerous different Kings and Queens within that time frame, examples being King Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth I or Queen Victoria I. The Monarchy each held different surnames, for example the Tudors or the Stewarts, at the moment we have the Windsor household, named after the famous residence the House of Windsor (the original name Saxe-Couburg-Gotha was changed during the wars because it was German). Queen Elizabeth II reigns currently who celebrated her Golden Jubilee (50 years in power) in 2002, the only other Queen to have done this was Victoria I.
Buckingham Palace has been the official residence of the monarchy since 1837
A little bit about her power and role within the UK:
(taken from the website) “The Queen is Head of State in the United Kingdom. Her official title in the UK is ‘Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith’.
As a constitutional monarch, The Queen does not 'rule' the country, but fulfils important ceremonial and formal roles with respect to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and the devolved assemblies of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Queen is also Fount of Justice, from whom justice in the United Kingdom derives, and has important relationships with the Armed Forces and the established Churches of England and Scotland.
In addition to her role in the United Kingdom, The Queen has a special role to play in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, which are dependent territories of the English Crown.”
Buckingham Palace is guarded by some of the most famous looking guards, who change regularly performing a special ‘parade’ when they do so.
This is the entire Royal family (the queen is in the middle in blue!), as you can see there are a lot of them, in reality however only a few have the chance to become the next monarchy of the UK, at the moment that falls to the Prince of Wales, Charles, however many think that he may abdicate and allow his son, Prince William, to reign instead as he is much younger, although at the moment that isn't looking likely!!
This is of course our Queen!
Next up is a quick view of Tower Bridge , not London Bridge as one American Businessman thought when buying the Bridge and then got the shock of his life when he realised he had purchased a normal bridge and not the one below... (I know we shouldn't but we Brits do get a laugh out of that every now and again)
Followed by the Tower of London where many prisoners, both royal and non were kept and beheaded in the late 15th to 17th centuries.
Right next stop is DLP, there is so much more in Kent but I think that we've explored the 'best bits'.... now we just have to hop across the channel and hit DLP, at Christmas time