Queen Elizabeth II is the Queen of England and she has been queen for 63 years! She was crowned queen when she was just 25 years old, and she's 88 years old now!
Lucky lady, she has the best real estate in England. Let's start with Buckingham Palace.
We stopped by at night and no one was there. It was quiet and everything was all lit up. We know the Queen was home because the flag on the top was flying. They only fly the flag when the Queen is there.
We went back the next day right before the changing of the guard ceremony. Unlike the day before, it was super crowded and rainy and full of the sounds of Michael Jackson.
What? Michael Jackson? Yes, "I'm Bad" along with Darth Vader's Imperial March.
No kidding. That's what the band played after they went inside the gates. It started out with some royal pompous marching-sounding music while they marched inside the gates, but once inside, we were surprised by their musical selections.
So a couple of guys walked back and forth a million times while the band played.
And then they marched back out (with a different group of guards....because, as the name states, it is a CHANGING of the guards.) So....we're just switching positions here...just to let you know.
And they do it.....every day.....
This is Kensington Palace. We walked to Buckingham from here. It's a beautiful walk through a large park. The statue in front is Queen Victoria.
The Queen must have been following us, because when we went to Windsor Castle, her other home, she was there, too! Notice the flag flying.
She has daffodils.
And a nice pond.
And a big castle. Cuz, you know, Buckingham is only a palace with guards.
I mean, you have to have a CASTLE if you are the Queen.
And every single castle must have a statue with a guy on a horse.
And big fancy doors...
And tulips!
And, of course, perfectly mowed stripey grass. (My dad was getting jealous now...)
There was a super cool big doll house inside of here, but they wouldn't let you take pictures of it.
It was super big and super intricate and it even had servants' rooms, and a garage, and miniature cars, miniature dishes, miniature crowned jewel vaults, miniature books, and pretty much miniature everything else.
In case you missed it, the Queen actually lives here sometimes, unlike so many other castles we've been to.
(Most of those castles have walls missing and holes in the side, which make living in them kind of not very desirable if you are royalty.)
And of course, we had to take our picture with the guard.
He would not smile for us.
Kieran was a little nervous to go stand by the guard.
My mom tried making funny faces at him to make him smile.
It didn't work.
Nope, still nothing.
He just totally ignored us, and kept marching. Rude.
This is St. George's Chapel on the left.
When you're the Queen of England, you get your own private church.
Me and the Queen. (Sort of...)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TEENAGERRRR
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