The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
The British refuse to
let go of their illustrious past. Once, we walked into a modest crockery shop
at Sunning-hill near Windsor.
A set of six cups and saucers was priced at £250. The proud proprietor in his
late fifties said, “We have been making fine crockery since 1859 out of
Sunning-hill and we have no other branch!” The cups were slightly uneven. The
proprietor explained that they were hand crafted! “And I must warn you,” he added,
“they are not fire resistant, so you can forget about putting them into a
microwave or an oven.” “The material, by the way is rather brittle – one of
those delicate pieces, to be handled with great care!” He paused and then half
to us, half to himself announced, “But I think they are certainly worth
their while.” The alleged fact that they had a legacy that dates back to 1859
was his only value proposition for selling the crockery at six times its usual
price. And we are not talking about "brand equity" either. This wasn’t Harrods of London!
It was a local shop perhaps not making more than a few dozens of those sets in
a full year - albeit from the Royal Borough of Windsor!
Like the monarchy, just about everything in the royal
borough has a legacy. The English are known to attach a lot of importance to
dressing for the occasion. In the royal borough, there are elaborate norms
around dress code including accessories that are followed meticulously
depending on whether you are dining, golfing, relaxing, shopping or gardening.
As the river passes through the borough, it becomes the “Royal Thames”! The
racecourse is the “Royal Ascot” Racecourse. Hundreds of wealthy families in the
borough have connections with the royal family and several hundreds covet ranks
of chivalry or knighthood. The communities living in the royal borough,
affluent or otherwise, often want to proclaim their distinction over others.
Probably, this fascination, this overwhelming admiration of the royalty and
tradition made the diamond jubilee celebrations of 2012, exciting!
For centuries, the British monarchy has not ceased to
arouse curiosity amongst the people in the UK and to a lesser degree, around
the world. It doesn’t seem to matter that constitutionally, the Queen does not
interfere with the 10 Downing
Street’s affairs or the fact that she is not
amongst the five richest individuals in the United Kingdom. In this democratic
and pro-capitalist nation, people still have a very special place in their
hearts for the royal family and the prying media goes to extremes to catch a
glimpse of the private lives of a member of the royal family.
The year 2012 was the 60th anniversary of the Queen's reign over
the UK
and The British Commonwealth. The UK celebrated this Diamond Jubilee between
2nd and 4th June. The British government and the royalty were
evidently using the occasion to create a greater feeling of community and
promote a sense of pride and unity. There was serious money to be made by
attracting tourists as well. They even had an official ‘Diamond Jubilee’
website at www.thediamondjubilee.org.
On Saturday 2nd June, The Queen attended the
Epsom Derby. Sunday was the Big Jubilee lunch where people were encouraged to share
lunch with neighbours and friends as part of the Diamond Jubilee
celebrations. All the multitudinous heralds
of festivity throughout the UK
will announced the start of the ‘The Big Lunch’
by chiming church bells, gongs, cannons, whistles and drums. Garden parties and
festivities were organised into village fetes, public parks, village halls,
community centres, country houses, pub gardens, cricket pavilions or the club
houses.
Sunday was also the day of the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant where a thousand boats
assembled in a flotilla on the Thames. The
Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh traveled in the Royal Barge which formed the
centrepiece of the flotilla. On Monday, there was a
special service at the Westminster Abbey to commemorate the 60th
anniversary of the coronation ceremony followed by a grand rock and pop concert at the Buckingham
Palace in the evening – an audio visual grand finale to the day’s celebrations.
The Queen usually spends
her winters at the “Windsor
Castle”, probably the
most well known of her five official residences next only to Buckingham palace.
The UK
is divided into Counties and Boroughs. The Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
has come to be known as “The Royal Borough”.
Consequentially, the County it is part of, is called the Royal
County of Berkshire.
The Windsor Castle
has been a royal palace and fortress for over 900 years. William the Conqueror
chose the site, overlooking Thames, intending to guard London from the western approaches. Since
then, successive sovereigns have improved upon the Castle. Some strengthened it
against uprising; others, living in more peaceful times, created a palatial royal
residence. The Castle provides a step back into history, and within its
precincts stand some magnificent buildings like the Queen Mary's Dolls' House,
The Gallery, The State Apartments, St
George's Chapel and the Albert Memorial Chapel.
The State Apartments are
used for the State and official occasions. The rooms are furnished with
remarkable works of art in the Royal Collection, fine tapestries, porcelain,
sculpture and armour. The Queen holds banquets and receptions at St. George’s
Hall. Queen Mary's Dolls' House is a palace in miniature, built to a
scale of 1:12 in the 1920s. Every detail of the dollhouse from the entry gates
to the chandeliers in the King's bedroom is fully functional. The water system,
the electric lighting, and elevators work, the gramophone plays and the wine
bottles in the cellar contain genuine vintage wines.
Tourism is central to the royal borough’s economy. Ascot and Windsor High Streets are full of souvenir
shops, travel agents, restaurants, pubs and shops that sell designer wear,
fashionable accessories, jewellery, art and antiquities including memorabilia.
Leisure industry is quite prominent throughout the borough. This includes
several stud farms and manufacturers of leisure boats and fishing equipment for
enthusiasts who spend their summer holidays on the river Thames.
Real estate prices are incredibly high in the royal borough despite the fact
that these towns are no more industrial than their neighbours outside the
borough.
Ascot is renowned for its racecourse. Apparently, Queen
Anne was out riding in 1711 and noticed a natural clearing near the village of
East Cote (now Ascot), on the edge of Windsor Great Park and ordered a course
to be laid out “for horses to gallop at full stretch” and so the Royal
Racecourse was born. The first four-day Royal Meeting was held in June 1768 and
the tradition has continued to the present day. Today Ascot
stages top class flat racing in summer and jump racing during the winter. During
the summer, Ascot comes to life as the jockeys
trot their thoroughbred stallions, fillies and mares, while the high echelons
mingle with spectacular fashions and style – in a relaxed social setting. Live
music concerts and fashion shows are held throughout the racing season.
The British legacy of
aristocracy is evident even today, as people often get access privileges and
differential treatment depending on their “class”. It looks as though the men
and women at Ascot are more conscious of their
own lineage, than the pedigree of the horses they watch trotting on the
paddocks. Ascot racecourse has three
enclosures, each perfectly serving the purpose of segregating people. The
Members' Enclosure has the prime viewing position and the most comprehensive
facilities, open to members only. The Grandstand has reserved seating and
private boxes during the Royal Ascot and Premier race days offering unique
panoramic views over the racecourse. There are areas exclusively reserved for
the royal family such as the Berry
bar and Queen Elizabeth rooms. For the masses, access is limited to the Silver
Ring for a lower admission fee.
While Windsor is full of pubs that are open late in
the night, life elsewhere in the borough is quite relaxed. A journey by car
along the winding single-lane roads from the town of Maidenhead to villages such as Cookham and
Marlow unfolds fairy-tale images of the well-known British countryside. The
sheep and cow farms, egg ranges, the strawberry and blueberry farms, cottages
with thatched roofs and cylindrical bales of hay dotting the fields; take any
photo-shoot through an amateur camera, and you can sell it as a post card! The Thames is very quiet and narrow in the borough. Whilst on
their leisure boats on the river Thames, the
locals are fond of basking in the Sun. (which incidentally is not a greater
privilege even in the royal borough!)
Life in the villages is laid back, the surroundings
disturbingly quiet. It’s a perfect getaway from the busy life in London yet close enough to commute to London offices. People here greatly value
their balance of work and leisure. The concept of working over weekends is rare
and unwelcome. Shops close at 5 p.m. on weekdays and Saturdays and at 4 p.m. on
Sundays. Except for the pubs, town centre high streets bear a deserted look at
evenings. People in the neighbourhood are fond of reading and gardening over
the weekends during summers and drinking. The pubs are hubs of all social
activity and therefore also a common source of information on local news,
sports, politics or gossip. Other than in the pubs though, people like to
respect personal space and privacy.
by Sachin Kulkarni Windsor, UK.