The King George VI Memorial Chapel
A plain black ledger stone naming Queen Elizabeth II and her family, and the spot where visitors linger longest.
Aurelien Guichard from London, United Kingdom (changes by Rabanus Flavus) — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Rachelle Haun — CC BY 2.0 · Len Williams — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Fernando Losada Rodríguez — CC BY-SA 4.0
A slab of black marble barely two metres long, carrying nothing but names and dates: that is where Queen Elizabeth II lies, beside her father, mother, sister and husband. Visitors file past it in silence inside a small side chapel off the north aisle, and most linger longer than they meant to. After a funeral the whole world watched in 2022, the plainness of the stone lands harder than any monument could. This is the moment of St George's Chapel; everything else is the gilded frame around it. The frame earns its keep. Edward IV began the chapel in 1475 and Henry VIII finished it in 1528, producing one of the finest late-Gothic churches in England: carved stone vaults, a fan vault at the crossing beneath the tower and intricate lierne vaults over nave and quire, that scatter light from the tall windows across pale stone, and in the quire, rows of carved wooden stalls under the banners of the Knights of the Garter, Britain's oldest order of chivalry, founded in 1348, each knight marked by a small enamelled plate with his arms. Beneath the quire floor lie Henry VIII himself and Charles I, the king who lost his head; eleven monarchs are buried here in all. The chapel also hosted Prince Harry and Meghan's wedding in 2018 and Prince Philip's funeral in 2021. Practically: there is no separate chapel ticket. You enter on a Windsor Castle ticket (adult £32 booked in advance, £36 on the day), and the chapel admits sightseers only on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10:00 to 16:00, because the castle shuts on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and on Sundays the chapel is given over to services and is not part of the visit. It also closes for royal occasions, most notably Garter Day in mid-June. Photography inside is forbidden without exception, and the chapel itself warns that access may be limited after about 14:30 because of visitor numbers, so make it your first stop after the entrance and climb to the State Apartments afterwards. For families: pushchairs are allowed inside, and although the main South Door has three steps there is a step-free alternative entrance with ramps along the whole visitor route, though there are no toilets in the chapel itself, only near the café and on the North Terrace. From either Windsor station (Riverside from Waterloo in about 55 minutes, or Central via Slough from Paddington in about 40) it is under ten minutes' walk uphill. If you want to see the interior without a ticket, Evensong at 17:15 every day is free (sung by the choir in school term, except on Wednesdays when it is said): be at the Henry VIII Gate a quarter of an hour early. It is a short visit, but on a choir day long enough to hear them under that vault.
A plain black ledger stone naming Queen Elizabeth II and her family, and the spot where visitors linger longest.
Carved stalls beneath the knights' banners and enamelled arms plates, with Henry VIII and Charles I in the vault under the floor.
One of England's finest late-Gothic ceilings; look up at the crossing beneath the tower, where nave meets quire and the stone ribs fan out.
Lower Ward, Windsor Castle, Windsor SL4 1NJ
Crooked House of WindsorA three-storey house that leans off its own vertical as though frozen mid-collap2 minutes walk4.2
Windsor GuildhallOn the ground floor of this small brick-and-stone building, a few steps from Win2 minutes walk4.5
Windsor CastleIf the Royal Standard is flying from the Round Tower, King Charles III is spendi2 minutes walk4.6
The Long Walk, WindsorA dead-straight line roughly four kilometres long, from the gate of Windsor Cast7 minutes walk4.9If you are entering the castle anyway, do not skip it: half an hour is plenty and it costs nothing extra. But do not build a Windsor day around the chapel if that day is a Sunday, Tuesday or Wednesday, when it is closed to sightseers; pick a Saturday, Monday, Thursday or Friday and go in before noon to beat the queue.
Not during visiting hours; entry then is on the castle ticket only. The free alternative is Evensong at 17:15 via the Henry VIII Gate, but you sit in place for the service rather than wander, so do not expect to stand in front of the stone itself in the side chapel.