WINDSOR Castle is perhaps one of the most important properties in the world, steeped in thousands of years of history and tradition.

William the Conqueror chose the site for the castle, high above the Thames. He began construction around 1070 and the castle took 16 years to complete. Since then, more than 900 years have passed and the castle has changed many times over by the long line of monarchs who have ruled.

By 1110, Henry I had domestic quarters within the castle, and his grandson Henry II converted it into a palace in the late 12th-century.

The walls of the castle were originally made of timber, but in the late 12th century Henry II began to replace them with stone. The original Norman keep was rebuilt as the Round Tower in 1170, and the entire outer perimeter was renewed over the next 60 years.

Henry III completely rebuilt Henry II’s buildings in the Lower Ward and added a large new chapel, all around a courtyard with a cloister.

From the 1350s up until his death in 1377, Edward III turned Windsor from a military fortification to a gothic palace. He spent £50,000 in the process, more than any other medieval English king spent on any other single building.

The work was not completed by the time of Edward III’s death. It continued for another six years into the reign of his grandson Richard II. Apart from the modernisation of the King and Queen’s great chambers and the addition of a gallery, the late 14th-century apartments survived unchanged until the 17th century.

By the time Elizabeth I took up residence at Windsor, many parts of the castle were in need of repair. A programme of improvements was undertaken throughout the 1570s.

Charles II, who reclaimed his throne in 1660, modernised the royal apartments, which by 1684 became the grandest baroque State Apartments in England. The rich appearance of the new interiors was heightened by expensive textiles and magnificent tapestries.

The apartments created by Charles II survived virtually unchanged to the end of the 18th century, when George III gave several of the rooms on the north side of the Quadrangle a neoclassical dressing. George III's architect also designed a Music Room and new Dining Room. In 1796, the King appointed James Wyatt as Surveyor-General of the Office of Works to transform the exterior of the Castle into a gothic palace.

George IV and his artistic adviser Sir Charles Long wanted the exterior of the Castle to have a more imposing appearance. They raised the height of the Round Tower, re-clothed the exterior in massive masonry and added towers and battlements.

By the time the King finally took up residence at Windsor towards the end of 1828, his improvements had cost nearly £300,000.

George IV’s restoration was so comprehensive that little was done by his immediate successors. Under Queen Victoria a new private chapel was created at the eastern end of St George’s Hall, and the Grand Staircase was reconstructed. The Royal Mews and riding school, south of the Castle, were completed in the 1840s.

But tragedy was the strike in the 1990s. A fire broke out in Queen Victoria's private chapel on November 20, 1992 and the blaze quickly engulfed the roof and caused extensive damage to St George's Hall and the Grand Reception Room, the State Dining Room and the Crimson Drawing Room.

The long process of repair and restoration began immediately, under a committee chaired by The Duke of Edinburgh. The areas that were most badly damaged, such as St George’s Hall, were redesigned in a modern gothic style. It was completed exactly five years after the outbreak of the fire.

*With thanks to the Royal Collection Trust

St George's Chapel

Built in the mid-14th century, St. George’s is a grand feat of Gothic architecture. It has dedicated stalls and banners for knights, stained-glass windows, chantries, and an organ loft. The Queen celebrates Easter at the castle, and attends service in the chapel, every year.

The chapel has hosted dozens of royal weddings; many of Queen Victoria's children wed there.

The last wedding was that of Prince Edward and Sophie Helen Rhys-Jones in 1999.

Prince Charles and second wife Camilla Parker-Bowles had a prayer and blessing at the chapel following their wedding at Windsor Guildhall in 2005.

Sadly, St George’s is also known for funerals: Those of Queen Victoria, King George VI, Queen Mary, Princess Margaret, and the Duke of Windsor (the former King Edward VIII). Dozens more important royal monarchs were also laid to rest there, interred in the church itself or at Frogmore.