How To Live Like A Royal In The British Countryside

From Windsor to Bray, all it takes is a speedy jaunt away from the hustle and bustle of London to gain first-hand insights into the lives of the British royal family

- Karen Tee

We stand in respectful silence in St George’s Chapel, where Queen Elizabeth II is buried. Save for our small group of five huddled around the alcove, the historic building, which is located on the grounds of Windsor Castle and has borne silent witness to countless royal weddings, burials and many other ceremonies in between, is empty.

It is as close an approximation to what it was like on the evening when the late Queen’s closest family members gathered to witness her private burial, says our host, a very knowledgeable castle insider. Just like how we are huddle around the alcove, her family returned to the chapel in the evening after the official ceremonies were conducted to say their farewells in private.

He tells us she is buried with her sister Princess Margaret, her parents King George VI and the Queen Mother, as well as her beloved husband Prince Philip. Then he points to a well‑worn red carpet in the corner—the same one in her father’s wartime office during the Second World War. True to her down‑to‑earth personality, the late Queen had wanted something personal and of significance to adorn her final resting place instead of the usual showy, gilded crypts of yore, he explains.

This tiny detail that a casual visitor would probably overlook turns out to be the one that gets to me. And even though I have always thought the barrage of media coverage about the British royal family has turned me into a cynic, I cannot help but feel tears prickling at the back of my eyes at this very human glimpse into the monarchy’s private lives.