In a land of fairy-tale kings and queens, Westminster Abbey is where the royal 'happily-ever after' was sealed for many of them. This elegant abbey, opposite the Houses of Parliament, is where England's monarchs come to be crowned and married. It is also the last resting-place of many of the country's most famous rulers – Edward the Confessor, Henry III and Elizabeth I have tombs here. But it is best known for the beautiful modern-day royal weddings that have captured the world's imagination from the ruling Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, to Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles, to the recent marriage of Prince William and the Catherine Middleton.
Parts of Westminster Abbey are very old – almost as old as the line of monarchs that have ruled England. The first religious building was an abbey for a monastery of Benedictine monks, built around 960 AD by King Edgar. Edward the Confessor started rebuilding this 'St. Peter's Abbey' in 1042 AD, although it wasn't finished until 1090 AD. Parts of that first abbey and monastery are still visible. It was William the Conqueror who finished it, after he and his Norman army had defeated the English king Harold. But most of the building you see was only completed between the 13th and 18th centuries, in Gothic style.
This royal church not only tells the story of England's kings and queens. It has become the highest honour for an Englishman to be buried here, and many of the country's finest writers and most famous politicians can be found here. William Chaucer, the famous medieval poet is buried in 'Poet's Corner', which also houses Edmund Spenser and Alfred Tennyson, and monuments to Shakespeare and Lord Byron. Both Winston Churchill and Diana, Princess of Wales have had funerals here.
As well as being a beautiful religious building, powerfully connected to English History, Westminster Abbey also has a museum. This is in a crypt underneath it, one of the oldest parts of the building. Here there are collections of the personal belongings of the royals, as well as funeral effigies and items used in royal coronations. There's even a 400-year old royal corset worn by Elizabeth I on display. It seems that, if you want to get close the real-lives and dramas of England's kings and queens, Westminster Abbey is a place without equal in the kingdom.
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