Windsor Castle Tour George IV s Gothic Makeover and the Waterloo Chamber

Cat Tuong
Cat Tuong
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145 Video Views·Jul 14, 2026  #castle

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Go inside Windsor Castle for an expert-led tour of George IV's Gothic makeover, the Waterloo Chamber, and the reborn St George's Hall.

On the banks of the River Thames, Windsor has housed a royal stronghold since the Normans arrived in 1066. Today it remains central to the monarchy and has been a royal palace longer than any other building in Europe. Guided by curator Kate Hurd, we explore how generations reshaped this fortress, with Edward III’s grand ambitions and, centuries later, George IV’s sweeping transformation.

George IV turned Windsor into a modern royal residence while honoring its medieval story. He opened a dramatic entrance hall in reimagined Gothic, designed to astonish guests arriving via the Long Walk. Queen Victoria later bricked off this vast space and altered the stair, but it has now been reopened so visitors can appreciate George IV’s original intent.

Climbing the grand staircase to the State Apartments, we pass displays of arms and armour from the Royal Collection, echoing the guard chain that once protected these rooms. In the Waterloo Chamber, Sir Thomas Lawrence’s powerful portraits of Wellington and allied leaders celebrate the defeat of Napoleon. Commissioned from 1814, before Waterloo, the series acknowledges George III’s role while showcasing George IV’s curatorial eye. The chamber, once open air in Edward III’s apartments, was roofed and finished in Queen Victoria’s reign, enriched with Grinling Gibbons woodcarving reused from Charles II’s chapel.

St George’s Hall, the world-famous setting for feasts and state occasions, carries Edward III’s legacy above an undercroft recently opened to the public. After the 1992 fire, the hall was rebuilt with a soaring green-oak hammerbeam roof. Shields of the Knights of the Garter line the walls, and a striking champion’s armour recalls the last coronation appearance at George IV’s banquet, when the mounted champion rode into Westminster Hall to cast down his gauntlet.

In an octagonal room we encounter the imposing figure of Henry VIII, before entering the Crimson Drawing Room: peak George IV in French neoclassical taste, with gilt doors and commissioned furniture, much of it brought from Carlton House. Badly damaged in 1992, it was reconstructed from original watercolours, a space where the reclusive, infirm monarch surrounded himself with beauty and craftsmanship.