This Is the True Story of the Great Fire That Nearly Leveled Windsor Castle
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The new trailer for season five of The Crown opens on Windsor Castle, set ablaze, cutting to a somber Queen Elizabeth II standing in a black engulfment of its charred remains. “The royal family is in genuine crisis,” the voice-over states, with a version of the Verve’s hauntingly appropriate 1997 hit “Bittersweet Symphony” playing in the background. As viewers gear up for the continuation of the historical drama to land on Netflix on November 9—just two months after the passing of Queen Elizabeth—it’s clear that the next chapter in this story will provide a glimpse into some of the most turbulent moments of the royal family’s lives, including the great fire at Windsor Castle in 1992. So what really happened? Let’s take a look at the events surrounding the catastrophe at one of England’s most historic landmarks.
What started the fire at Windsor Castle?
The blaze reportedly started in Queen Victoria’s Private Chapel at around 11:30 a.m. on November 20. Renovators of the Royal Household had been in the chapel inspecting works of art; the cause of the fire was most likely a faulty 1,000-watt spotlight they had been using, which ignited a curtain next to the altar, according to the official fire report. Within minutes, the blaze had spread to St. George’s Hall next door, as well as Brunswick Tower and private apartments in the eastern wing of the building. The fire spread quickly through these huge rooms and long corridors, which had timbered ceilings and difficult-to-reach gaps (not to mention no sprinkler system). Thus, the fire was able to burn unabated for half the night.
Was the Queen at Windsor Castle during the fire?
When the fire broke out, Queen Elizabeth II was celebrating her 45th wedding anniversary with Prince Philip at one of her weekend homes. She received a phone call from Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, who had been on-site doing research for his course at Staff College, Camberley. The queen raced to the castle and arrived at 2 p.m., to supervise the removal of the priceless furnishings. But as the fire continued to burn, she could only stand and watch as her beloved home was ravaged by the inferno. She stayed for an hour before leaving, returning the next morning to assess the damage.
What efforts were taken to put out the Windsor fire?
A fire alarm went off in the watch room of the castle’s fire brigade, which was being manned by Chief Fire Officer Marshall Smith. A light on a grid-map of the castle identified the fire’s location, first in the Brunswick Tower, and then was followed by other flashing lights that indicated the fire was spreading quickly, according to the fire report. Building contractors working in a neighboring room took fire extinguishers to the blaze and removed paintings from the chapel until the raining embers forced them to leave at 11:32 a.m.
Five minutes later, Smith pressed a switch to activate the public fire alarm in the castle. The castle’s fire brigade arrived on the scene at 11:41 a.m., followed by the Fire & Rescue Service. Meanwhile, Prince Andrew and the castle staff had formed a human chain in order to rescue furniture, artworks, and antiquities (including a 150-foot-long table and a 120-foot-long carpet from the Waterloo Chamber). Within three hours of the fire being spotted, 250 firemen were battling the flames. At the peak of the operation they were using 36 pumps, discharging 1.5 million gallons of water, according to the Royal Collection Trust.
How much damage did Windsor Castle sustain?
Fortunately, the fire break at the opposite end of St. George’s Hall was not breached, so the Royal Library went untouched. Furthermore, a rewiring project was being carried out in the areas of the building most affected by the blaze, so many valuable paintings and pieces of furniture had already been cleared out. And so, amazingly, only one work of art was lost in the fire—a massive painting by Sir William Beechey that could not be removed from the wall in time—in addition to a neo-Gothic rosewood sideboard. That said, the blaze destroyed 115 rooms, including nine state rooms, accounting for one-fifth of the castle. Many smaller apartments—including the Star Chamber, the Octagon Room, the Brunswick Tower, the Cornwall Tower, the Prince of Wales Tower, the Chester Tower, the Holbein Room, and the Great Kitchen—were damaged or destroyed. Fire, smoke, and water also damaged a number of priceless tapestries and woodwork.
How long did the restoration of Windsor Castle take?
The fire was finally extinguished on November 21 at 2:30 a.m., after burning for 15 hours. The next step was the gargantuan task of restoring the castle to its former glory. Enter architectural firm Donald Insall Associates, which was appointed by the Royal Household to spearhead the project. The Restoration Committee, chaired by the Duke of Edinburgh, considered whether the castle should be restored to its original appearance or added upon; they opted for a combination approach.
The plan was for half of the damaged rooms to be restored to their original state (including the State and Octagon dining rooms), while new designs (headed by architecture firm Sidell Gibson) would be drawn up for St. George’s Hall’s ceiling and East Screen, including a new room called the Lantern Lobby in the space where the private chapel previously stood. This created a formal passageway between the private and State apartments. The Queen’s Private Chapel would then be restored in a modern style. The restoration project was completed on November 20, 1997, five years to the day after the fire broke out. Ultimately, the renovation of the 1,000-year-old Gothic castle cost $60 million.
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