Windsor Castle
Where Milady 'borrowed' some diamonds and Dumas borrowed the story from the real Lucy Hay, the Countess of Carlisle
“Wait, wait!“ Said the duke. “The only time I have worn these studs was at a ball given by the king eight days ago at Windsor. The Comtess de Winter, with whom I had quarrelled, became reconciled to me at that ball.”
Dumas
June 2017
The path from the Eton and Windsor train station to the gate of Windsor Castle is well worn and, in June, clustered with people. The ticket office is propped up by a long queue of visitors and the ticket is expensive. The crowd of people splinters up the hill and into the grounds of the famous castle but, don’t worry, that’s not the last time you’ll see humans. At least, if you visit in the summertime!
You can’t take photos inside Windsor Castle. It’s the oldest occupied castle in the world and over 40 monachs have lived there. It’s stuffed full of history, art and armour. And tourists.
As usual, I was on the hunt for the Jacobean but I could find little evidence as I made my way around those hallowed grounds and hallways. I did see an ermine covered James I portrait by Paul Van Somer. It’s interesting to see the Banqueting House in the background - apparently not finished at the time of the portrait. I remarked to the nearby warden that James didn’t look well, did he. The warden replied, Really? He thought he looked pretty good. I said I felt his colour was too high. He was florid across his nose and cheeks, the common sign of a heavy drinker, didn’t he think? And the warden said he was a bit worried now because he liked a pint or two himself. And we got to chatting and I assure you, it’s true, James I’s eyes are sunken. He could be sunburned after all that hunting. And the warden - who did have rather a red face himself - pointed out the rakish angle of the crown - it did look like he’d pushed it back on his head. He said that James looks like a geezer - and he was a blunt bastard when he wanted to be. We wondered why he’d been disappeared from Hampton Court and, we agreed, glossed over here. He suspected it was something to do with the fact he signed his own mother’s death warrant. But, I said, hang on, that doesn’t sound right! And apparently, it’s not. Elizabeth signed the warrant. A lot of common thinking about James just isn’t right.
This portrait is from the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland, on display in an extensive exhibition called The World of King James VI & I at the time of writing (August 2025). Painted immediately after James took the throne of England, you cannot yet see his red nose and world weary attitude. But you can certainly see his determination to get things done! Or just impatience with the artist. Get on with it, man!
Back at Windsor Castle, the warden had a brainwave leading to a memory reboot; oh yeah, he remembered there’d been a rainstorm, and the roof had leaked. The normal painting above the fireplace had to go to the conservators, and it had been replaced by a portrait of George Villiers and family (by Honsthorst the same year the Duke had been assassinated) now in the King’s Drawing Room. So off I trotted, against the tide, through three gilded rooms filled with gawkers from all around the world (hoping to see our current royal family, we assume) to find what my pint-loving warden friend called ‘A Pretty Man’ - the Duke of Buckingham himself. Later on, he told me to watch out for the portrait of the two Villiers sons, George and Francis, dressed in Charles I hand-me-downs, painted by Anthony Van Dyke. The Villiers family remained close to the Royals, even after saucy George had been stabbed.
Of course, the Duke of Buckingham and Milady had that famous adventure over some diamonds cut from a brooch he had apparently been given by Anne of Austria, the Queen of France. You might remember Richelieu keen to reveal her treachery to the King? All based on a true account of the actions of a pretty woman called Lucy Hay (Countess of Carlisle) who was one of the Queen of England’s favourites and known to be a lover of the Duke of Buckingham and an adventuress! Sound familiar?
Back to the painting that hides the stain; pretty George Villiers is on the right hand of the painting while his wife (pregnant) and two children are all squashed into the other. Buckingham’s holding a folded note - hard to tell what that’s about - giving or receiving? He’s also dressed, very demurely for someone known to dress like a peacock fallen into a jeweller’s shop, in a black garment with white stripes. He’s looking directly at the audience with more than candour, is it arrogance? Painted only a few months before his assassination, he was under a lot of pressure to deliver a strong navy to protect King and country - Charles I by then - and to protect his wife and mother from attacks against their religion.
There’s not much more early seventeenth on evidence at Windsor. In a way, I felt more confident now that both James I & VI and Charles I were buried (beheaded Charles is under the Windsor Castle Chapel while James is at Westminster Abbey) and disappeared into the shadows. Not a popular time period, open for an unknown author such as my humble self to explore.
It was also nice to ponder my grandparents’ visit to Windsor Castle when Sir Thomas Macdonald held the role of New Zealand High Commissioner.
They reported that during the meal, (29 at table!) Charles and Anne received a parcel of books, immediately opened it, and both sat reading at table. Tommy and Elsie were appalled at their poor teenage behaviour. But Tommy appreciated the Queen as a fellow farmer. They could lean on a fence and talk land, horses, and dogs.
No trespassing, please. The tourists (me as well, obviously) had heard the Queen was due to arrive. At the time, I thought there’d be nothing an elderly lady would love more than chit-chatting to American tourists.
What do you think? Do you belong to royalty? Or do they belong to you?
Incredible!
What a wonderful family connection you have there. I’m so glad you kept that letter.