With Halloween now upon us, the Royal Family may be marking the spooky occasion by attempting to connect with some of the numerous ghosts that supposedly haunt their many homes.
As some of the royal castles and residences have existed for hundreds of years and have been home to a whole host of fascinating characters throughout history, it’s hardly surprising they are said to be haunted.
Paranormal historian and Most Haunted star Richard Felix spoke on Hello! magazine’s A Right Royal Podcast about some of the other worldly goings on in these buildings.
He told the hosts: “The Tower of London – a thousand years of trauma, tragedy, pain, death, execution, torture. The Tower has to be the most haunted building in the world.
“Second best has got to be Windsor. There are 25 different ghosts, apparently. St James, Clarence House, Sandringham, Holyroodhouse, Amner. They’ve all got their ghosts in them!”
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Windsor Castle is apparently home to a whole host of paranormal residents, as Mr Felix explained: “We’re talking a thousand years of history, the biggest, best-preserved castle probably in the world, and a history second to none.
“And a favourite home for so many royals. You see, one of the reasons that ghosts stay behind is because they like it there!”
One of the Firm’s most famous residences was first built following the Norman Conquest in 1066, and is the oldest inhabited castle in Europe.
In 1897 Lieutenant Carr Glynn of the Grenadier Guards was seated in the library when he claimed to see a woman in black glide past him, however when he asked an attendant who she was he was told he was the only person who had entered the room that afternoon.
The attendant suggested he had been honoured with a sighting of Queen Elizabeth I, who still roams Windsor Castle despite having died over 400 years ago.
Other royals who have been sighted at the property include Henry VIII and Charles I, as the unfortunate Charles was taken to Windsor as a prisoner in 1648 following the decision that he should be “prosecuted for his life as a criminal person”, with him being executed the following year.
In 1927 an 18-year-old guardsman shot himself while patrolling around Windsor Great Park at night, although he later appeared to several of his colleagues after his suicide.
Another building that has been standing for nearly 1000 years, the Tower of London is said to be full of spirits and apparitions.
Some of the most famous figures in royal history have lived, been held prisoner and even executed within it walls, with Guy Fawkes, Anne Boleyn and Henry VI all haunting the Tower.
It’s not just humans that appear though, as the Tower was once used as a royal menagerie, and a ghost bear is said to roam the ancient castle.
Perhaps even more unusual is the “nameless thing”, a petrifying spirit that follows the Tower’s guards as they patrol.
