Garter Service Windsor
The Garter Ceremony at Windsor Castle
Each year in June a procession and service take place at Windsor Castle for the Order of the Garter.
The Order is the senior and oldest British Order of Chivalry, founded by Edward III in 1348.
New appointments to the Order of the Garter are usually announced on St. George’s Day (23 April) but the chivalric and installation ceremonies take place in June, on the Monday of Royal Ascot week, known as Garter Day.
More information from the official royal website can be found here: https://www.royal.uk/order-garter
If there are new Companions of the Order of the Garter, The Queen formally invests them with the insignia at a Chapter of the Order in the Throne Room of Windsor Castle.
Afterwards The Queen will entertain the members and officers of the Order at a lunch in the Waterloo Chamber.
After lunch the Knights process on foot to a service in St. George’s Chapel, wearing their blue velvet robes, known as mantels, and black velvet hats with white plumes.
The processional route is through the Upper, Middle and Lower Wards of the castle to St. George’s Chapel.
The colourful procession is led by the Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle and the Military Knights of Windsor.
On emerging from the Great West Door of the Chapel, the Sovereign and the other members of the Order return in carriages and cars to the Upper Ward of the castle.
How Do I get tickets for Garter Day?
A limited number of tickets is available for members of the public to watch the procession to St. George’s Chapel from inside the precincts of Windsor Castle. Applicants can request up to four tickets each.
Applications must be sent between 1 January and 1 March each year to:
Will The Queen be there?
The Queen attends the service along with other members of the Royal Family in the Order, including The Prince of Wales, Prince William, The Earl of Wessex, The Princess Royal, The Duke of Gloucester, The Duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra.
On reaching the chapel there is a short service, at the beginning of which the new Companions (if any) are installed.
The Garter ceremonial dates from 1948, when formal installation was revived by King George VI for the first time since 1805.