Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
King Charles and Queen Camilla are celebrating their twentieth wedding anniversary and they tied the knot in a building that comes complete with its own historical mystery.
The couple had originally hoped to marry at Windsor Castle itself but legally this would have required that the castle be open as a venue to other couples to get married there for three years. And so the couple turned their attention elsewhere and settled on the Windsor Guildhall.
Very close to Windsor Castle itself, the Windsor Guildhall is a Grade I listed building that dates back to the late seventeenth century. And its origins provide a mystery.
It was begun in 1687 by architect Sir Thomas Fitz. However, rumours swirled that Sir Christopher Wren worked on the building after Sir Thomas’s death. However, there is no evidence that Wren had anything to do with the Guildhall but the mystery about whether this building was, in part, the creation of one of the world’s most famous architects remains unsolved.
The town hall has continued to evolve. In 1829, a two-storey addition was created at the back of the building. In the twentieth century, it served as a food office and hosted the Quarter Sessions. In 2011, Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the Windsor and Royal Borough Museum in the Guildhall.
The Windsor Guildhall has played host to other notable celebrations. In the same year, Sir Elton John and David Furness had one of the first same-sex civil partnership ceremonies in the United Kingdom at the Guildhall.