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Watching the changing of the guard from a high street cafe in Windsor
Watching the changing of the guard from a high street cafe in Windsor. Illustration: Cynthia Barlow Marrs/The Guardian
Watching the changing of the guard from a high street cafe in Windsor. Illustration: Cynthia Barlow Marrs/The Guardian

Pomp, circumstance and celebrity: people-watching in Windsor – a cartoon

This article is more than 4 years old

On Queen Victoria’s 200th birthday, US-born Windsor resident Cynthia Barlow Marrs takes a close look at this town of parades, state visits and royal weddings

Windsor is a castle town, a garrison town and a tourist town. Ceremonial tradition is a part of life here. There are changes of the guard, state visits, gun salutes, processions and parades, and royal weddings from time to time.

Victoria in bronze

I arrived in Windsor 31 years ago, an American newly married to a local Englishman. I am now a dual citizen. I often think about identity, and how an outsider arrives at a sense of belonging.

I also think about celebrity, about the desire people have to feel special, and how fine the line is between being special and being separate.

24 May 2019 is the 200th birthday of Queen Victoria. Last year for the first time I looked closely at the bronze statue of Queen Victoria outside Windsor Castle.

She stands on a granite plinth 13 feet high at the intersection of the high street and Castle Hill. Traffic parts round her, and visitors look both ways before they cross over to pose for photos.

The statue was unveiled in 1887 to celebrate Victoria’s 50th year on the throne, her golden jubilee.

The bronze queen holds traditional symbols of British royal power: the orb represents divine power, and the sceptre is a symbol of earthly authority.

But I noticed Victoria also wears lace, fashioned by female hands. Victoria’s lace has outlasted the British empire, but British ceremonial traditions continue.

A study of Victoria’s hand

Depending on the weather and time of year, the changing of the guard at Windsor Castle occurs roughly every other day. If you time it right, you can watch from the kerb or one of the cafés that line the high street.

The changing of the guard, watched from a cafe

Those guards in the scarlet tunics and bearskin caps are highly trained infantry soldiers who not only serve on the battlefield but also perform ceremonial duties at royal residences such as Windsor Castle. That building on the right is Windsor’s historic Guildhall.

Mounted police in place for the royal wedding in 2005

In 2005 the Guildhall was the venue for the marriage ceremony of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles. I mingled with the crowd outside Windsor Castle, and had my first close view of the mounted police at work. I have been a fan ever since.

One of the best modern traditions in Britain, in my view, is policing by consent. Public ceremonial life in Windsor would not be possible without it.

Thames Valley police at Princess Eugenie’s wedding in 2018

These officers from Thames Valley police were among thousands of police on royal wedding duty in Windsor in 2018.

The day before Prince Harry married Meghan Markle in 2018

The day before Harry and Meghan’s wedding, Windsor was festooned with union flags and bunting, and the streets near the castle heaved with television crews, souvenir sellers, tourists and police. Excitement was building.

A royal fan poses with Harry and Meghan cutouts Illustration: Cynthia Barlow Marrs/The Guardian

It was people-watching heaven, but the numbers were daunting: our town of just 30,000 souls was about to welcome 100,000 wedding guests in a single day.

Three-way selfie with a crown

In the end, even the most cynical would have been enthralled by the theatre of the event. Everything came together on the day: the weather was perfect, the crowds radiated goodwill, and Windsor had never looked so good.

A flag seller

Little scenes stick in my mind: people queueing to pose with lifesize cutouts of Harry and Meghan; friends sending selfies back home; entrepreneurial souvenir sellers everywhere; and, around the corner from my house, another likeness of Queen Victoria on a pub sign, gazing down on it all.

Two crowns: a pub sign and a royal enthusiast

Cynthia is a US-born artist and illustrator with an international background in environmental planning. Her career has shifted from master plans of thousands of hectares to the intimate scale of everyday life around her. Windsor on My Wall is her new series of watercolours and drawings inspired by the people and places in her home town. She can be found on Facebook as @CBarlowMarrsArtist, on Twitter and Instagram as @cbarlowmarrs or via her website

If you’re an illustrator or graphic artist with an idea for The Illustrated City series, email us at cities@theguardian.com

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