Recently I spent three days in London prior to departing on a Northern Europe cruise out of the port of Southampton. I’ve been to London and Great Britain several times over the years, however, it had been about 16 years since I had visited the Tower of London where Henry VIII’s second wife, Ann Boleyn, was jailed prior to her trial and ultimate sentencing to be beheaded.

The day we visited the Tower, we made sure to be the first in line prior to its opening at 9 a.m. so that we had a prime view of the Duty Yeoman Warder opening the tower. Warders have been guarding the Tower of London since Tudor times. Nicknamed ‘Beefeaters,’ the Yeoman Body of 33 men and women are all drawn from the British Armed Forces. They are called ‘Beefeaters’ because they were permitted to eat as much beef as they wanted from King Henry VIII’s table.

Touring the Tower can be done independently using an audio guide, or visitors can take a tour conducted by one of the Beefeaters. I opted for the audio tour, though I did take advantage of tagging onto a Beefeater tour in one of the courtyard areas to listen to some of their commentary. I also later approached one of the female Beefeaters – she is one of only six women inducted since the inception of the Beefeaters – to learn more about her background and service. Lisa Garland is a former air traffic controller from Halifax, West Yorkshire, who now lives and works at the tower with her husband.

Greeting us as we entered the Tower, after watching the ceremonial opening, was one of the six captive ravens that reside there. The ravens’ presence is traditionally believed to protect the Crown and the Tower. Superstition has it that if the Tower of London ravens are lost or fly away, the Crown will fall and Britain with it.

The highlight of The Tower of London is the Crown Jewels. Upon entering after the ceremonial opening, we made a beeline for the hall where the jewels are kept to avoid the traditionally long lines that queue up throughout the day to see them. At the heart of the crown jewels are the coronation regalia, the sacred objects used in the coronation ceremony, most recently for King Charles III, who wore the Imperial State Crown, which we saw on display, on May 6, 2022 at his own coronation.

If you are looking to travel to London, basing your stay near the Tower of London is an excellent location as it is conveniently walkable to and from the Tower, nearby Tower Bridge, which we saw many times at many different times of day and night, as well as near the Thames River, which you can traverse by boat in 30 minutes to Westminster to see Elizabeth Tower –commonly referred to as Big Ben, which is actually the bell within the tower – Whitehall, the home of Parliament, and Westminster Abbey, the burial site of more than 3,300 people, many prominent in British history.