[LONDON LIGHTS 1984] DAY 6

August 5, 1984

After visiting the Catholic house of worship (Westminster Abbey), today we gave time to the Anglican house of worship (or what we Filipinos call "Protestant", not being bothered to distinguish between the various denominations) -- St. Paul's Cathedral. It one of the most beautiful works by Sir Christopher Wren, if not the most beautiful. Certainly, for a public place, one of the most welcoming. I'm fairly sure that had I been by myself, I would have at least made the attempt to get up into the dome, just to see if I could; they say the view will take away what little breath you have left after climbing the stairs.

The Prince and Princess of Wales were married out of this lovely church. Following tradition, Ma and I made three wishes, said a few prayers, and lighted a candle to watch for us after we'd gone.

From the Cathedral, it was off to the Tower of London, which took up most of the afternoon. We joined a guided tour led by one of the Beefeaters. That's the nickname of the Royal Guard - I suppose they were given an extra ration of meat, back in the day, in order to keep up their strength for the job. Our Beefeater was as big as a bear -- and an endless fund of Tower lore. His dry wit enlivened the anecdotes surrounding the Tower, and there was a lot of polite laughter at regular intervals.

The Tower is actually misnamed. It is something more in the way of a small castle by the riverside. Tower Bridge (the often misnamed "London Bridge"), is one of the prettiest drawbridges around...people love to linger about in hopes of seeing it rise for vessels traveling on the Thames.

It was interesting to discover that there were, apparently, two styles of execution practiced at the Tower. Each style was performed in a separate area of the compound. First you had the "commoner" method, which served as a particularly gruesome form of public entertainment. The poor soul who was executed in this manner, was led out to the outer walls and, to the jeers and cheers of the populace, endured the awful punishment of being "hanged, drawn, and quartered." Basically, you were hung until you were almost dead, and then, in this state, the executioner slit opened your middle and drew out your innards, which were then thrown into a fire -- while you were watching! Then you were beheaded and your corpse divided into four. By comparison, a simple hanging was a merciful thing. I cannot wrap my mind that people would voluntarily come to such a gruesome event...and bring children, at that.

The "private" method of execution was reserved for those incurring the ruler's personal ire. The relative advantage to this, was that one was executed out of the public eye, and one was generally executed swiftly, through beheading. In the reign of Henry VIII and later Tudor years, Anne Boleyn and Catharine Howard met their ends in this manner, as did Lady Jane Seymour (only 17, and victim of her uncle's political games).

Of course, the Tower and Henry VIII are nearly synonymous, given the many people he sent there for one reason or another. Henry VIII is also famous for his six marriages, three of which ended in a spectacular manner. Our Beefeater offered us a rhyme to help us keep straight the fate of each Henry VIII's wives : "Divorced, beheaded, died/Divorced, beheaded, survived":
== Divorced - Catherine of Aragon, mother of Mary Tudor
== Beheaded - Anne Boleyn, mother of Elizabeth Tudor I
== Died - Jane Seymour, mother of Edward VI
== Divorced - Anne of Cleves
== Beheaded - Catherine Howard, cousin of Anne Boleyn
== Survived - Catherine Parr

The highlight of the tour that I was most looking forward to experiencing, was the walk through the room where the Crown Jewels are kept. The room is divided into two levels: an upper tier where one can linger and take longer to appreciate the stones, and a lower tier wher you can get a closer look, but must move along a lot faster. Ma and I took the lower tier -- in our books, a closer look at a faster pace beats a lingering look from a distance.

The Crown Jewels and Regalia are set up against a background of dark velvet -- purple, most likely -- and strategically placed lights that bring out the best of the gems. The Star of Africa probably the most spectacular of the lot. It's the size of a hen's egg -- it looks almost alive under the spotlights; think of a crystal clear ice cube, that somehow retains an aspect of something living, and that's what it looked like to me. Part of its beauty is that it is set, all by itself, on top of the royal sceptre, where all eyes can focus on it, undistracted by any supporting jewels.

The Koh-i-noor Diamond, in the Queen's Crown, is another gorgeous, glorious stone. It is India's contribution to the Crown Regalia, as the Cullinan is South Africa's -- both of them making their way into the Crown Jewels via interesting ways. The Koh-i-noor is said to bring bad fortune to male owners and good fortune to female owners; it once belonged to Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal, and when the old Shah had to be confined to bed, his son had the diamond placed in his window, positioned in such a way that the Shah could see the Taj Mahal reflected on its main facet.

After filling ourselves with history, Ma and I decided to move back into the modern world with that most prosaic of female activities -- shopping, and then a quick meal in nice surroundings before heading back to the hotel.