She may not seem like the daredevil-type, but 20 years ago today Queen Elizabeth II was helping to rescue precious paintings from a horrendous fire at Windsor Castle.
The heat of a single spotlight left too close to a curtain in the monarch’s private chapel was all it took to bring the iconic fortress to its knees.
More than 200 firefighters battled for 12 hours to fight the flames on the afternoon of November 20, 1992 - incidentally the Queen’s 45th wedding anniversary,
Despite soaking the crumbling structure in 4,500 tons of water, nine rooms were completely gutted and nearly 100 suffered significant damage, by what remains the worst blaze in the castle’s 900-year history.
Members of the Royal Family, including the Queen and Prince Andrew, were reported to have joined a ‘human chain’ tasked with saving great works of art from the wreckage.
Fortunately, several items had been temporarily removed just before the flames took hold, but nonetheless several treasured pieces, most notably an equestrian portrait of George III and some very expensive chandeliers, were destroyed.
The Duke of York, who was in the castle when the fire started, said the Queen was “devastated” by the tragedy. She later famously declared 1992 her “Annus Horribilus”.
A whopping £40 million was spent on the castle’s five-year restoration project.
Funds were predominantly raised by opening the royal building to the public at a cost of £3 per ticket, following a heated debate over whether taxpayers’ cash should be used to foot the bill for the state-owned castle.
Five years later on November 20, 1997, Her Majesty and Prince Philip held a ball at the revamped castle to mark their Golden Wedding Anniversary, and proceeded to breathe a huge sigh of relief.