This church coronated it’s first king in 1066, a guy from Normandy with a great name, and every one since. It house the tombs of many kings, including Edward I,III, VI & The Confessor. Richard II, Henry V & VII. Mary I, James VI Scotland/I of England. Charles II, George II, Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I plus about 3000 others including Wm Shakespeare. I asked a priest why no pictures since Southwark, Yorkminster, and others did allow them. He informed me that this is Her Majesty’s private chapel and due to it’s history required a different level of reverence. Apparently people were taking and selling photos and disrespecting the place with duck-lipped selfies in front of tombs. Most people respect that but one American was firing off his phone so I asked him if he was aware of the “no photo” policy. His response was that the sign said “No photography Please” and the please meant it was optional. I told him that that was British politeness and he was a being a jerk. He looked a bit sheepish as the camera went back in his pocket. Wanker.
If you go to http://www.westminster-abbey.org/visit-us/picture-gallery they have some great interior shots one can download. I tried but couldn’t get it to download into WordPress. Check it out. This was the most magnificent house of worship I have ever seen and I have seen a large number of cathedrals.
Adjacent to The Abby is St. Maragret’s Chapel
Flowers were being arranged an both sides of the alter. Over 6 feet of white lilies and white roses. The wonderful aroma was noticed two steps in the door.
As I was walking to the River Thames from the Cathedral all sorts of police sirens were wailing, cars with flasers on and 2 helicopters above. Some fool had attempted to bring a bag of knives into Whitehall, one of the most secured buildings in Britain and since the MI 5 or 6 had been stalking him he was taken without incident. As I said in an earlier post, the terrorist can not and will not win.
{ 0 comments… add one now }