Recently the world was captivated by the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
I was lucky enough to pay my respects during the lying in state and I was also lucky enough
to see the funeral procession down the mall.
It was an incredible moment in History, but the Queen was then taken to Windsor Castle,
which was regarded as her favourite residence where she was buried inside of the King George
VI memorial chapel.
What is strange with this, is the fact that the Queen was not laid to rest inside of the
Royal Vault at Windsor Castle, however she was buried in a side chapel along with her
husband Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh?
But it leaves a lot to be questioned in the future, as to whether this chapel will now
become the main royal vault of St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, as her family members
will want to be buried alongside her.
But there is actually a royal vault at Windsor Castle that has a huge amount of burials.
Join us today as we look at who is buried inside the royal vault at Windsor, and remember
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First we will look at the King George VI memorial chapel, which was commissioned to be built
by Elizabeth II in 1962.
It was designed to accommodate the remains of three monarchs and their consorts, meaning
that it is possible that Charles III may be buried there with his wife Camilla one day.
The plan for this chapel was to find a resting place for the Queen’s father King George
VI, and following his funeral his remains were transferred to the royal vault, and as
he died suddenly there was no place designated to lay him to rest.
The Queen wanted her mother to not have to bury her husband a second time, and she disliked
the idea of marble chest tombs with life sized effigies for monarchs, and she preferred simply
slabs on the floor.
There was no space for another vault to be made in St George’s chapel, so they added
an additional chantry chapel to the outside of the chapel.
This was the first addition to the church since Henry VII added a chapel to it in 1504.
Plans were eventually approved, and the roof of the chapel was painted in black and white
and decorated with gold leaf.
The altar in the chapel was constructed, and King George VI’s remains were transferred
to the memorial chapel named after him on the 24th March 1969.
It cost around £500,000 in today’s money to make and was funded by the Queen.
A private ceremony took place with the royal family, and George VI was laid to rest inside
of this vault.
Later the ashes of his daughter and the sister of the Queen Princess Margaret were placed
inside this vault, and she was created to make sure her remains could be accommodated
in a small chamber beneath the chapel.
Later the Queen Mother was interred beneath the chapel on the 9th April 2002, and Margaret’s
ashes were then placed in the tomb of her parents at the same time.
But following the death of the Duke of Edinburgh Prince Phillip, a private burial ceremony
took place inside the chapel to lay the Queen’s husband to rest alongside his father in law
and mother in law.
He was placed inside this vault, and a ledger stone was placed on the floor, but then following
the death of Elizabeth II she was placed next to her husband Philip.
The burials are stacked ontop of each other, and it’s believed that inside of this chapel
is space for one more monarch and his consort, as it was planned initially to be intended
to be a burial place for 3 monarchs.
This is a quiet and calm part of St George’s Chapel, but the other royal vault inside of
St George’s Chapel is much busier.
St George’s Chapel is a place where Henry VIII, Jane Seymour and King Charles I are
buried beneath the Quire, but at the altar there are many more burials.
Edward IV and Henry VI are buried there, and there are two other coffins of two children
possibly believed to be the Princes in the Tower buried there.
Elizabeth Woodville is also near the Altar, as well as Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark.
George Platagenet the Duke of Bedford and Mary of York are also interred there, along
with Princess Louise of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.
Further Kings and Queens are dotted around, as well as princes, as George V is buried
near the West Door along with his consort Mary of Teck.
But what is classed as the Royal fault contains the remains of many Kings and Queens and also
princes and princesses.
Of the Kings buried there, George III, George IV, William IV and George V are buried there.
Many of their sons and grandchildren are buried also inside the Royal Vault.
It’s believed their remains are held behind wrought iron grills to the side of the vault.
But the last burial inside of the Vault took place in 1930, with Princess Augusta of Hessel-Kassel,
the Duchess of Cambridge being placed there.
But in the future, it is likely that the next King of Queen buried inside of St George’s
Chapel will be buried inside of the King George VI Memorial Chapel.
It’s likely that Charles III will be buried alongside his mother, but following this the
royal vault may be used once again to house members of the royal family who have passed
away.
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