true they are , how real they are , I don ’ t know but there are certainly a lot , a lot of stories about ghosts around here .
Are there any little known facts or stories about the Tower that you ’ ve picked up over the years that perhaps aren ’ t quite so well known ? Lots and lots and lots . Did you know that we have our own pub in the Tower ? Our own bar ?
I did as I have been your guest in there but I ’ m not sure many people do Not many people know that . But did you know that in its heyday there were 37 such bars and inns in the Tower of London .
Wow . There are lots of things about the Tower in areas which is not open to the public . So we don ’ t generally talk about them because obviously if you talk about them and you say that these things are here then people want to see them . For instance there ’ s a wall painting underneath where I live , which is not open to the public , which was painted in 1400 .
known for sure whether that was the case but the net result was that Thomas Blood befriended Talbot Edward ’ s daughter with a view to courting her , eventually to marry and so he got the confidence of Talbot Edwards who regularly let him have a look at the Crown Jewels and so it was that he concocted a plan along with accomplices to lift them . And they did ; they got the Crown , the Orb and Sceptre and they got as far as the wharf before the alarm was raised . Blood had knocked Talbot Edwards out , knocked him over the head but they were caught and arrested . They did a bit of time but were pardoned and sent off to Ireland so we think there may be some weight to the wager story but that was the only attempt .
Well bringing us a bit more up to date than that , you were recently honoured by the Queen , received an MVO [ Member of the Royal Victorian Order , a British order of knighthood ]. How does that feel ? I was a bit surprised actually , um , totally surprised . And it is a great honour because obviously it ’ s a personal gift from the
It ’ s absolutely incredible , things like that . Tiles , floor tiles that are circa 1300 , there are lots of little bits and pieces which one has to be careful about mentioning as you can ’ t show people because somebody lives there . In places where it ’ s open like the Beauchamp Tower there ’ s over 90 inscriptions , medieval graffiti , things that the prisoners have carved into the wall . There ’ s a listing of what ’ s there and so you can actually read a bit of history on this , but that ’ s , snippets of what ’ s not commonly known about the Tower .
The Crown Jewels of course , there ’ s so much information on the Crown jewels , and that ’ s one of the main reasons why people come to the Tower of London , to see the Crown jewels . And a bit of surprising information about that is that they are real . People seem to think for some inexplicable reason they ’ re not real but they are . And they are used still to this day . The Crown Jewels are regularly used for various different ceremonies to this day .
Have there been any attempts to steal the jewels ? 1671 saw the one and only attempt to steal the Crown Jewels by Thomas Blood , he befriended the Keeper of the Jewels who was known as Talbot Edwards , and in those days the Keeper of the jewels would allow people to come and have a look at them , probably charge a couple of pennies to have a private view of the Crown Jewels .
It was thought that there was a wager between the King and Thomas Blood that the Jewels could be stolen , it ’ s not
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