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00:01The Tower of London, a world-famous historic monument.
00:06There will be stories about murders.
00:09Over its thousand years of history,
00:12everyone who's anyone has passed through its gates.
00:15King Richard III.
00:17Catherine Howard.
00:18King Henry VIII declared.
00:19My darling Anne, I will love you for the rest of your life.
00:25Cheeky.
00:27And this year, it's non-stop.
00:31With grand commemorations.
00:33Jumping Jiminy's.
00:35At the ancient fortress, including a royal visit.
00:39I truly think that Her Majesty will be moved.
00:41We've got a ringside seat to see it all unfold.
00:44Oh my gosh.
00:45While its dedicated staff.
00:47High five.
00:48Yeah.
00:49Work to keep everything on track.
00:51You know this is the key for the toilet, don't you?
00:53No, I'm not feeding you anymore, no.
00:55No.
00:57In this episode, there's a new deputy governor in town.
01:01But how will she cope with her first major event?
01:04Actually, I'm quite nervous.
01:06I've been warned about the boots.
01:08They're quite slippy.
01:09The fortress welcomes back its famous poppies for an ambitious new installation.
01:15The tower has stood for a thousand years.
01:17We can't be the ones who cause any damage to it.
01:20And the archaeology team begin the most important excavation in a generation.
01:25This dig could rewrite the tower map.
01:30Welcome to the secret world of the Tower of London.
01:42Another portcullis.
01:43We'd normally keep it closed to keep the peasants out.
01:45But we've opened it up today to let you lot in.
01:48The fortress has waved goodbye to winter and is opening its gates to a new season.
01:55Hundreds of tourists are already queuing up to hear the yeoman warders' tales of terror.
02:01That's where we executed Queen Anne Boleyn.
02:05If I'm being truthful, it is where we sell your children ice creams.
02:10Springtime is the best time at the Tower of London.
02:15It's absolutely amazing.
02:17The sun is shining.
02:18All the flowers in the moat are blooming.
02:20And all these beautiful people from around the world are coming to take in all the history.
02:25I'm talking about an execution so good that you get blood on your face twelve rows back.
02:34But the tower isn't just a source of intrigue, scandal and torture.
02:39For almost a thousand years, it's played a crucial role in national events.
02:44From gun salutes for the state opening of parliament to royal visits.
02:51You're happy for a photograph, sir?
02:53And 2025 is no exception.
02:57It's going to be a busy one for yeoman jailer Clive Towle.
03:01This year, we've got quite a few interesting things happening.
03:04We've got our Easter parade, a very important parade in the calendar.
03:07It's when we would march the constable to church.
03:10And also, we're going to celebrate VE 80, featuring Europe 80 years on,
03:16by bringing back 30,000 poppies from the Tower of London, which is quite exciting.
03:20In 2014, the Tower marked the centenary of World War I, with a breathtaking display of ceramic poppies.
03:32888,246 of them, each representing a life lost in the war.
03:42Planted one by one, they flooded the moat in a powerful tide of remembrance, capturing hearts, headlines,
03:49and drawing millions of visitors from around the world, even a few VIPs.
03:56Now, 30,000 poppies are returning, this time to celebrate 80 years since VE Day,
04:03in a daring reimagining that hopes to be every bit as unforgettable and powerful as its predecessor.
04:10It's a similar remembrance that everybody recognises in this country.
04:15And, yeah, it just means a huge amount.
04:18The poppies will be unveiled in a major event at the start of May.
04:22But there's still a huge amount to organise.
04:25Here, Clive. White, all about sugar.
04:28Robin, thank you.
04:30Clive and his boss, Chief Yeoman Warder Rob Fuller,
04:33are expecting the display to attract a lot of attention.
04:37So we'll have all the veterans in, maybe a royal or two, who knows?
04:41If we get the big crowds we're looking at coming in to look at the poppies,
04:44I should imagine we'll get big cues.
04:46There's a lot to think about, isn't there?
04:48So, request for leave denied that day for everyone.
04:52A project of this scale involves teams across the whole of the fortress.
04:57At the helm will be the Governor of the Tower, Brigadier Andrew Jackson.
05:01He wasn't in charge for the 2014 display and has a lot to live up to.
05:07It's so exciting because these poppies were...
05:10The word iconic is overused,
05:12but this was a real draw for millions of people.
05:16But there's time pressure to get this in place by the 6th of May,
05:20so the installation has got to run like clockwork.
05:24Another person responsible for pulling off this monumental event
05:27is project manager Ali Richardson.
05:30This afternoon she's meeting Governor Andrew and designer Tom Piper,
05:35who created the original installation...
05:37Hello. Nice to meet you, Tom.
05:41..to talk through some of the challenges.
05:43This is going to be our most high-profile event this year.
05:47It's really important that we make it spectacular.
05:49In 2014 the poppers were only displayed in the moat.
05:54This time the team wants to wow the public
05:57by creating an enormous steel structure
05:59that attaches the poppies to the oldest building in the tower.
06:03So we've got the cascade coming off the white tower
06:08that'll come from the crenellations up there.
06:10So if you look up, they'll cascade down,
06:12hopefully get as far as that kind of middle window with some of them.
06:16It's like there's a droplet that's kind of come off that cascade.
06:18Ah, as if it's dropping down and bouncing back up.
06:21That will be amazing,
06:22and I'm sure it'll look absolutely incredible.
06:24And they'll cascade down the slope here,
06:27and that's the area that was damaged in World War II.
06:29Of course, yes.
06:30Wow, it's really poignant.
06:31It's a real connection with the tower's history.
06:34The Second World War hit the tower hard.
06:38From September 1940 to May 1941,
06:41London was devastated by night after night of bombing during the Blitz.
06:47Large parts of the city were flattened.
06:49There was significant damage to the fortress,
06:52and lives were lost.
06:54The Second World War
06:5980 years from the end of the conflict...
07:01Let's go!
07:02Tom is hoping his poppy design
07:04will be a reminder of the suffering of war.
07:07So the centrepiece of his display
07:09will be a striking installation he's called The Wound.
07:13So this is where the wound is going to be.
07:15In a way it's almost like a frozen explosion,
07:18about five metre high kind of spurs of poppies.
07:21Obviously it's got to be engineered in such a way
07:23that it doesn't fall over.
07:24Yeah.
07:25But it needs to have a kind of real dynamic energy.
07:28To execute Tom's spectacular design,
07:31the team will not only have to find a safe way to attach an eight metre long metal structure
07:37to a grade one listed building,
07:39but also work out how to insert thousands of poppies into the protected lawns.
07:44We will need to be careful about how deep we plant them,
07:47because we need to have an eye to what's hidden under here that we don't already know about.
07:51It is a very sensitive site.
07:54You're dealing with, you know, ancient historic buildings,
07:57and we're trying to put big metal sculptures on top of them.
08:02I'm feeling quite nervous about it.
08:03It's a very high profile project for me to be working on.
08:06Tower has stood for a thousand years.
08:08We can't be the ones who cause any damage to it.
08:14Coming up, the biggest archaeological dig in a generation becomes a hunt for a long lost building.
08:20And this is actually the earliest plan of the Tower of London.
08:24But what makes it really interesting is what it doesn't show.
08:29The pressure's on to ensure the poppies arrive in one piece.
08:34I've looked at every single one, and there are nearly 30,000 of them.
08:38And some new arrivals adjust to life at the fortress.
08:41I'll walk out of the bathroom and forget that there are 30 people looking through the window
08:45and get the shock of my life.
08:47I think they get the shock of their life.
08:49The Tower of London contains some of the most important buildings in the country.
09:02One of its jewels is the Chapel of St. Peter Advincula,
09:06built by none other than King Henry VIII over 500 years ago.
09:11That chapel today contains the celebrity A-list of the 16th century.
09:16It's part of an elite club that includes Westminster Abbey and St. George's Chapel at Windsor.
09:22They are known as Royal Peculiars, churches that are under direct authority of the king.
09:28It's also the final resting place of Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Grey.
09:33From today, this iconic building at the very heart of the tower will be closed for 11 months.
09:40We've got the halls in today, all the way around here.
09:42Because the tower team is starting a project to install a new lift to improve access to the interior.
09:49We've got the guys coming in to start lifting up the slabs and then we'll start actually digging the excavation.
09:55Hopefully put a lift in.
09:56Yeah.
09:57It's an incredible opportunity for building's curator, Alfred Hawkins.
10:02In order to install this lift, we're going to need to perform quite a large excavation.
10:07So, hugely exciting from a historic and archaeological perspective.
10:12This will be one of the most important digs the tower has ever done.
10:16Although the chapel was built in 1519, archaeologists believe there were buildings around this spot many centuries earlier.
10:24But they just haven't been able to prove where.
10:27The archaeology could actually provide us with evidence of those previous buildings and could help us create an even better story about the development of the tower.
10:38An archaeological dig is like peeling back layers of time.
10:42And Alfred has managed to lay his hands on an old map of the tower to help him work out what might be there.
10:49So, this map is from 1597.
10:52And this is actually the earliest reliable plan of the Tower of London.
10:57But what makes it really interesting is what it doesn't show.
11:01Where we've got areas where there's nothing on these plans, if we find something in that area, then broadly we can date it to before this map existed.
11:13And then we're really discovering new elements of the tower that haven't previously been documented elsewhere.
11:20The tower's shape has changed over time. New buildings were constructed, but then vanished.
11:26One of the most famous of these is a chapel built by Edward I, who way back in the 1200s created much of the tower as we know it today.
11:35It's believed that Edward's chapel originally stood to the north of St. Peter Advincula.
11:42But nothing has ever been found to confirm this.
11:45Alfred and his team are hoping the lift excavations might just reveal evidence of this lost chapel.
11:52This is really kind of a once in a generation opportunity to find the buildings that previously existed in this space to share their stories.
12:03Away from the chapel works, the fortress is very much open for business.
12:10You want to see the crown jewels? I want to see the crown jewels. Fantastic.
12:13For the last 12 years, yeoman warder Matt Prime has been living and working at one of the most famous buildings in the world.
12:20Let's be heading off! Hey!
12:24But in just one month, he will hang up his Tudor bonnet for good.
12:28I'm about to retire. I'm finished with the tower and off to sunny Spain.
12:34What I will really miss, you know, we joke about it, but I'll miss these guys. I'll miss the public.
12:39They're absolutely amazed by this fantastic place. You know, I'm part of making their memories.
12:44Matt has an extra special connection with the tower, as in 2021, he and his wife Jo married in St. Peter Advincula.
12:54This is a unique job. There is nothing like it. There's only 35 of us.
13:00And they say there's more people been in space that have been yeoman warders.
13:05And we'll finish our tour right next to where all the rotted bodies are buried.
13:10A little treat for the kids.
13:13All of the staff at the tower have important roles.
13:19But one of the most visible has to be that of the tower's deputy governor.
13:23A post which, for the last seven years, has been held by naval officer Debbie Whittingham.
13:28Well, the deputy governor is a title that's unique to the Tower of London.
13:32But their role is to be the head of all the operations.
13:36They're the person that is making everything work here.
13:38It's a critical role to the tower.
13:40Pulling all the operation of the tower together so that we're all going in one direction.
13:45Debbie was the first ever woman to hold the deputy governor title.
13:51The Tower of London.
13:54And her time at the tower featured many unforgettable experiences.
13:58From the reopening of the fortress after the Covid lockdown.
14:02I just feel really happy.
14:04The tower's back.
14:05To the crowning of a new monarch.
14:08We're leaving history but we're about to go and make it.
14:11But now Debbie has retired.
14:13And the aptly nicknamed Power at the Tower has left some supersized shoes to fill.
14:21Enter Brigadier Anna Kimber.
14:24Who took on the role and a new home at the fortress in January.
14:30After I got the job, we were able to come down and have a look at the house.
14:33And the arrival instruction, you turn right at the first drawbridge.
14:38Yeah.
14:39And I thought, that's probably the best set of directions I think I'll ever get.
14:44Anna had a 33-year career in the Army Logistics Corps.
14:48And can handle most things.
14:50But there are still some aspects to living in the world-famous fortress that she and her 21-year-old son, Seb, are getting used to.
14:58There are some rules and regulations for living here, understandably.
15:01When you can drive in.
15:02Yeah.
15:03When you can park your car outside.
15:05When you can get your food delivery.
15:08Timings like that.
15:09Can't leave the house without your wallet, otherwise you're not getting back in.
15:11That kind of thing.
15:12That sort of thing.
15:13Yeah.
15:14How's that happen to you?
15:15A few times, yeah.
15:17Often what I forget is that people are constantly here looking through your window, so I'll walk out the bathroom and forget that there are 30 people looking through the window and get the shock of my life.
15:27The day they get the shock of their life.
15:28Yeah, yeah, exactly, yeah.
15:29And you're kind of sharing your house with 10,000 people a day.
15:3313,000 people a day.
15:34Yeah.
15:35But yeah, I wouldn't change it.
15:37Despite the curious neighbours, Anna is delighted to be taking her place in the tower's history.
15:43It is very unique.
15:44I mean, nothing beats living here.
15:46You know, our view is looking out onto a nearly 1,000 year old building.
15:51I think the more the realisation sinks in, the luckier I feel.
15:56One of the first big projects Anna will oversee is the return of the poppies to the tower as part of its VE Day commemoration.
16:05Whilst most of the 2014 poppies were sold to the public to raise money for charity, 30,000 of them were bought on behalf of the nation by two philanthropists.
16:16The poppies are now in the Imperial War Museum's collection, and curator Laura Clouting has taken them out of storage with project manager Ali Richardson.
16:26I've looked at every single one, and there are nearly 30,000 of them.
16:30And the man who created the poppies, Paul Cummins.
16:34What's it like for you, seeing them again?
16:37It's a lot of memories, but I love the idea of coming back to life.
16:42They were made in Stoke, Wichford and Derby.
16:45And we got 300 people separately to put them together with hands, so they looked different.
16:51And the idea was the body of the clay is the individual soldier who died, and the red is the uniform that they wore.
17:00So we're all the same, but different.
17:02Obviously this time we're bringing them back to the tower to commemorate the end of the Second World War, and we're so excited to have them back.
17:10It's a really nice symmetry.
17:12The poppy became a symbol of remembrance after the end of the First World War, which saw one of Britain's greatest ever losses of life in conflict.
17:22During the war, poppies were a common sight on the Western Front, flourishing in the soil, churned up by fighting.
17:29The poppy continues to be this way of giving pause, stopping and thinking about the lives that are lost in conflict.
17:39This year's display, though much smaller in scale, will hopefully have the same connection with the public.
17:46I can't wait to see a new iteration of them in this amazing sight. The Tower of London is just utterly spectacular.
17:53It'll be a really proud moment and relief to see them all there, in situ, looking their finest, hopefully.
18:02Every year, the Tower hosts a series of flagship events that shows off the fortress at its finest, including three state parades, the first of which will be on Easter Sunday.
18:20The ceremony dates back decades.
18:23Over at the Tower, more London sightseers watch the traditional parade of the Yeoman Warders, inspected by the Governor of the Tower.
18:31It's a cherished tradition, featuring a customary inspection of the troops, which this year will be carried out by Deputy Governor Anna.
18:42We could put families here. Okay.
18:44Normally, the parade begins outside the King's House and heads round Tower Green to the Chapel of St Peter at Vincula.
18:53But with the chapel out of action, Anna and Yeoman Jailor Clive need to make a rare change to the parade route, a high-pressure first assignment for our new Deputy Governor.
19:06So, Anna, first state parade. Are you ready to go?
19:09I'm ready. I think.
19:11So, I'm going to start here, and when the Chief is ready, he'll salute, introduce the General, and then you can both come out and inspect the troops.
19:19Starting at the front right, going along.
19:21So, you're not inspecting the back, you're just... No.
19:24Yeah, there'll be enough vaults in the front row. And then when we're ready to go, we will turn the parade to the right, and then we're going to march.
19:31Once the parade reaches Tower Green, Canon Roger Hall will lead a special outdoor service of Easter celebration.
19:38It will be a huge change to tradition, under the scrutiny of a massive audience.
19:44So, normally, it would be into the chapel?
19:47Yes.
19:48And would actually take place in... inside?
19:51Inside, in the warm, you know, 180-odd guests. It'll be packed. This time, no outside.
19:57So, more... You know, there'll be more than 180 people here on Sunday.
20:01Yeah.
20:02With thousands of visitors a day, it's quite a challenge for Anna.
20:06I don't think I've done a parade with this many people watching before, so you want to get it right.
20:11I've been warned about the boots, and they're quite slippy, so I'm slightly apprehensive.
20:17I might have to go and do something about getting them sorted out before then, so they don't go underneath me.
20:25Back at St Peter's, digging for the new lift is underway,
20:28and everyone is hoping that they might also find evidence of Edward I's long-lost chapel.
20:35There's a fine bag here, and Sharpie.
20:40But they've already made a discovery, and it's not the one they were hoping for.
20:46We have, unfortunately, encountered this very large route moving through precisely where the lift is going to be.
20:54We are in a conservation area, and so we now need to get lots of extra commissions from Tower Hamlets Council in order to cut this and progress with the excavation.
21:05To make matters worse, the route is entangled with some major pipework, and site manager Guy Seddon has got his concerns.
21:13As you can see here, we've got water pipes, gas pipes, there's even a sewer drain coming through the middle of it.
21:18We definitely don't want to hit a live sewer pipe, because otherwise we'll flood the area with human excrement.
21:24It's a costly delay. The team will have to down tools with no idea of when they can restart.
21:30Coming up, Raven Master Barney gets his feathers in a twist.
21:38The raven was hiding from me, it seems, and actually laughed at me when I got back.
21:42And there's an exciting discovery relating to the lost chapel of Edward I.
21:47This is a building that no-one has previously located.
22:00It's lunchtime at the Fortress. Prime time to scavenge for the Tower's legendary protectors, the ravens.
22:09Please be very careful if you stick your finger out, they will check that as food.
22:13Oh, careful. Rescue child and sandwich.
22:16We do feed them, though, I promise.
22:18Despite their fascination with the beady-eyed sentinels, there's one thing the public struggle with.
22:24Raven Master Barney Chandler is regularly asked one question.
22:28The confusion between ravens and crows, how do you tell the difference?
22:31A few years ago, I actually got called out to Tower Bridge, believe it or not,
22:35because somebody thought they'd seen one of our ravens on the bridge.
22:38I hadn't seen one of our ravens for a few hours, so I just thought, I'll go and have a look.
22:45And lo and behold, when I arrived, the bird in question was a crow, and then I came back.
22:49It turns out the raven was hiding from me, it seems, and actually laughed at me when I got back.
22:53To find out the difference between his feathery flock and the humble crow, Barney has been doing some research.
23:00The main obvious difference is their size.
23:04The crow is about a third of the size smaller.
23:06There are other differences as well.
23:08The beacon of a raven is more pronounced, more aggressive.
23:10Their throat feathers are more bushy on a raven.
23:14But even the way they fly as well, their manoeuvrability is second to none.
23:19A raver in California was seen flying upside down for up to a mile.
23:23Just head and shoulders, in my opinion, above the crow.
23:27But I'm biased.
23:29Almost as iconic as the ravens are the yeoman warders' world-famous uniforms, known as reds, which are worn on state occasions.
23:40And the top brass at the tower also get some pretty unusual headgear.
23:44Hi, come in.
23:45Deputy Governor Anna Kimber needs a ceremonial uniform for her first outing in her new role, the Easter State Parade.
23:54So I've got all my kit in here.
23:56This morning, Paul Bainam-Henry, from Cooper Stevens Headwear, is fitting her with her bicorn hat.
24:03And he's brought along a rather strange tool of his trade.
24:07So we're going to measure your head with this machine called a conformature, which is designed in the 19th century in France.
24:16It's the best way of actually just tilt the head back, of not only getting the shape of your head, but the size of it as well.
24:23Wow.
24:24Certainly snug.
24:26The conformature is made up of wooden levers that adjust around the head, taking its form.
24:32The levers are topped with pins, which are pressed into a card displaying the measurements.
24:38A little card then has the shape of your head.
24:43Oh, my goodness.
24:44How many of these a year will you make?
24:47On bicorns, about two a year.
24:49Oh, wow.
24:50That's quite special.
24:51Yes, it is, yeah.
24:52Goodness.
24:53It's a very dying craft.
24:55Meaning two-horned, the bicorn was the hat of choice for officers in the Army and Navy in the late 1700s.
25:04Naval officers wore it with the points front and back.
25:09Though the most famous bicorn enthusiast, Napoleon Bonaparte, preferred to wear his side to side.
25:16It's very distinctive.
25:17There's literally only a handful of people across the country that have got one.
25:21You know, never thought in a million years that I would have one as well.
25:24Very special.
25:26It'll be a real privilege to wear that for the first time on Easter Sunday.
25:30What sections can we stand on and what do we need to avoid?
25:38At the chapel excavation, there's good news.
25:41Permission has been granted to remove the enormous tree root that's called a halt to the dig.
25:47We've just got to go slow here, I think.
25:49But it's not going to be easy.
25:51The root is entwined with gas and sewage pipes.
25:55Not to mention the job is a little outside gardener Kelly McPherson's usual remit.
26:00So as gardeners here at the Tower of London, our typical jobs actually are to take care of the green spaces on the outside rather than underground.
26:10Armed with a saw rather than an axe, it's less of an execution, more precision surgery.
26:16We'll make another cut here and just see whether or not we can lift this section.
26:21One wrong move and the site could be flooded with the sewage.
26:24Setting the dig back even further.
26:27Yeah.
26:28That's it.
26:30Catch it.
26:31Then suddenly, it's out.
26:33Oh, we'll remove this.
26:35Yeah.
26:39You're most welcome.
26:41After a two-week delay, the team are keen to make up for lost time.
26:46Their hope is that through excavations for the new lift, they may unearth clues as to the whereabouts of Edward I's lost chapel that's been missing for centuries.
26:57And Alfred thinks he might have uncovered something significant.
27:01He's discovered compacted layers in the ground, and it looks like it could have been burnt in a fire.
27:10We often find deposits related to burning. The tower is an industrial place.
27:15However, this is a compacted layer of burning, which suggests that there was a large burning event.
27:24This layer of ash, compressed over time, is likely to have been caused by a large building being destroyed by fire.
27:31But could it be connected to the chapel of Edward I?
27:38To discover more, Alfred has turned to the archives, and he's found something intriguing.
27:44It says here in 1512, the chapel in the Tower of London, and many other places in England were burned.
27:54And so that tells us that Edward I's chapel must have burnt down, and then been replaced with the current chapel of St. Peter at Vicola itself.
28:06So what we may have found is actually the destruction of Edward I's chapel in 1512.
28:15If this discovery is connected to Edward's chapel, it would be a huge breakthrough.
28:21And excitingly, more clues have come to light as the team sift through the earth removed from the excavation.
28:28So another interesting find that we've made is a number of pieces of glazed medieval tile.
28:35And these are really important because they are so decorative and so lavish.
28:40And this is a key and integral part of medieval architecture in displaying power.
28:47Decorative tiles would be found in important buildings such as a palace, a castle, or a church.
28:54But Alfred and his team need more concrete evidence.
28:58It doesn't say this is definitively Edward I's chapel, but this dig could rewrite the tower map.
29:09The excavation means that the chapel of St. Peter at Vicola is out of action, so this year there will be an Easter service outside on Tower Green.
29:18Chapel clerk Yeoman Warder Terry Briggs is preparing a one-of-a-kind artifact for a key role in the ceremony.
29:27So this is the Ethiopian cross. It's brought out for any services that take place outside of the chapel.
29:33I'll be carrying this on Easter Sunday.
29:36The cross was given in memory of those killed in Abyssinia and Eritrea in the Second World War.
29:44The wood dates back to William the Conqueror. The silver that goes around it, that was done by a family out in Ethiopia from melted down coins.
29:54It will be prior to place on Sunday, so I've got to make sure that when I'm stood there holding it, it's looking extra, extra special.
30:05Easter Sunday is fast approaching, and it will be an especially moving day for Yeoman Warder Matt Prime,
30:12who's retiring after 12 incredible years.
30:15Before he leaves, he has another rite of passage to complete, and it's one that's been central to his life at the Tower.
30:23This is my last tour, last public tour of my career. I'm feeling a little bit nervous, actually.
30:28I've done nearly 4,000 tours, but, yeah, I want to do a good one for my last one.
30:32OK, guys, if you're here for the Yeoman Warders tour, please come right in.
30:38Matt's unique. His tour's always been very good. We had stuff that we never heard of before.
30:43Who doesn't want to interact with a monkey dressed in human clothing?
30:48We plagiarise it. It doesn't work, because his timing's better than ours.
30:52He named himself the head of the church in England, and he signed his own divorce papers. Genius!
30:58That would have saved me £75,000.
31:03It is beginning to sink in. It's real. You know, it's not a job. It's a way of life.
31:08You know, you live and breathe it 24-7. But, er, there's a whole new part of my life starting,
31:13and I'm looking forward to it. I enjoy the tour. My name's Yeoman Warder Matt Prime.
31:18I'd like you guys to do something for me.
31:21Can I just stop? Yes.
31:24Could you just step off of it?
31:28OK, sorry to interrupt the tour, ladies and gentlemen.
31:31Now, Matt is going to be quite upset to hear this, but it's his very last tour.
31:37Yay!
31:43So please, show your appreciation for Matt one more time.
31:46Thank you very much.
31:47It's not enough to go round. I do apologise.
31:53Nice for him to come and shake your hand and give you a hug and say goodbye.
31:58So it is a little bit emotional. I shall go home and regroup.
32:01Thank you, guys.
32:02You've finally got the luck.
32:03Get off the grass!
32:04While Matt prepares to say goodbye to his uniform, Anna's brand-new one is taking shape.
32:20Armed with her unique head measurements,
32:22craftsman Murad Suleiman is constructing Anna's bicorn hat,
32:26using a centuries-old technique.
32:29It's just hands, irons, heat.
32:32The one-of-a-kind process began weeks ago.
32:36We start with the felt hood and then what we do,
32:40we steam this until it goes really soft
32:44and then we pull it and nail it to the body.
32:48The felt is then hardened with several layers of linen,
32:51stiffened with a natural glue and laminated together with the iron.
32:57Murad's now got the nail-biting job of cutting it to size.
33:01You know, this is months' worth of work and comes down to this knife,
33:07making sure you don't slip.
33:16And there we are. I mean, that's perfect.
33:18Now this has got to go on the fire.
33:20Using the heat, Murad moulds the hat by hand,
33:24a skill he has spent years perfecting.
33:27The longer you do it, you know what you're looking for.
33:30See that lovely shape there? That's beautiful there.
33:34To give it its opulent exterior, the bicorn is covered with black silk.
33:40This is all about patience.
33:46Oh, you've got to start all over again.
33:49I have to wait until the hat's happy.
33:52It's nice.
33:54As they say, sweet as.
34:04Back at the tower, the dig team have made a major discovery.
34:08After unearthing the tiles and the burnt remnants
34:11of what could be part of Edward I's missing chapel,
34:14the team have dug down even further back in time.
34:18So as we've excavated,
34:20we've come down onto this patch of stonework.
34:24And this is fantastically interesting for us
34:27because the way in which this stonework is formed,
34:30stepping out towards me,
34:32is a foundation for a very large building.
34:35and so the only building that would require foundations
34:40as massive as this would be Edward I's chapel.
34:45Buried for hundreds of years, hidden from sight,
34:48it looks like Alfred and the team
34:50may finally have found evidence of Edward's missing chapel,
34:53but it's not where they thought it would be.
34:56What it looks like is that the Tudor Chapel that we know now
35:00is actually built on top of and reusing the foundation of the chapel
35:04the foundations of Edward I's chapel.
35:07This was not what anyone was expecting.
35:10Edward I's chapel appears to have roughly the same footprint
35:14as the current Henry VIII's chapel,
35:17with an annex at one end that was added at some point in its history.
35:23All of the previous work on the chapel
35:26thought that the previous chapel built by Edward I
35:30must be away somewhere to the north,
35:33behind the current building.
35:35And we've actually discovered that the opposite is true.
35:38And so this completely revolutionises the map of the tower.
35:42For Alfred, this is a once-in-a-career discovery.
35:47We've found a lost building that for the last 500 years
35:52has only existed in words.
35:54This is one of the most exciting things
35:57that has been found at the tower in decades.
36:03Coming up...
36:05Anna faces her first major event at the tower.
36:09But would it all go smoothly?
36:11Actually I'm quite nervous.
36:12There'll be thousands of people watching.
36:14And Matt's final parade has arrived.
36:17It's a very special uniform to put on,
36:20and I shall take it off with a little lump in my throat, I think.
36:32It's Easter Sunday morning,
36:34and the tower is preparing for a highlight in its calendar,
36:37the Easter State Parade.
36:39With the Chapel of St Peter Advincula out of action,
36:42this year the parade will end in a special service on Tower Green,
36:47in front of enormous crowds.
36:50So, I'm going to need some help with my boots on.
36:53Yeah.
36:54All eyes will be on new Deputy Governor Anna Kimber,
36:57who is overseeing the event.
36:59But she's already had to call in the cavalry,
37:01in the shape of her son Seb,
37:03to help her get into her new state uniform for the first time.
37:08So, if you don't mind just pulling it down as tight as you can.
37:12That's quite fiddly, isn't it?
37:14It is quite fiddly.
37:15Getting ready is not a one-person job.
37:18It's a million and one things that you need to have.
37:24These two clips here.
37:26Gosh, this could take up a second.
37:29Oh.
37:30I'd like to say I can breathe in, but I don't think I can.
37:34Sweet.
37:35Done?
37:36Yeah.
37:37The final touch is Anna's brand-new bicorn hat,
37:41now complete with swan feather plume
37:44and a Royal Logistics Core button as a nod to her past.
37:51There we go.
37:52Does that look all right?
37:53Yeah, it's on straight.
37:54The hat fits really, really well.
37:55And it's really, really comfortable.
37:57She looks amazing.
37:58I've clearly done a good job.
38:00Yeah.
38:01You've done an amazing job.
38:03As well as inspecting the troops for the first time,
38:06Anna's been asked to do a reading in the ceremony
38:09in front of hordes of tourists.
38:11And if it wasn't enough, there's something else
38:13she's still worrying about.
38:16The leather soles on these shoes are really, you know,
38:18they're really slippy.
38:19Actually, I'm quite nervous.
38:21I guess there'll be thousands of people watching.
38:23But I am really looking forward to it.
38:30Outside, families are packing into the fortress with no idea
38:33they're about to witness a very rare Sunday service.
38:37So where have you come from today?
38:39Ah, Peru.
38:40Oh, Peru, goodness me.
38:41Long way.
38:42Yeah.
38:47At precisely 11.45 AM, Chief Yeoman Warder Rob Fuller
38:51leads the yeoman body out to muster in front of the king's house.
38:56Yeoman body, son.
38:59We're ready for your inspection for the Easter parade.
39:01And the new deputy governor steps out to inspect her troops.
39:15Inspection complete, sir. Permission to carry off.
39:22Yeoman body, by the left.
39:24Quick!
39:25March!
39:32As they march to Tower Green,
39:37Anna must stay in step with the yeoman warders.
39:44But can her new boots handle the slippery cobbles?
39:49Yeoman body!
39:51Hop!
39:55The tower comes to a standstill
39:57and all eyes turn to the Reverend Canon Roger Hall.
40:01We are gathered here as in age-old tradition,
40:11Yeoman warders and officers of the Tower of London
40:15for this Easter parade.
40:18Then Anna takes to the stage.
40:24And he said unto them,
40:26Be not affrighted.
40:28Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth.
40:30He is risen.
40:32He is not here.
40:34Behold the place they laid him.
40:36Watched by the tower, top brass.
40:39Neither said they anything to any man,
40:42for they were afraid.
40:43So it is that this Easter morning we once more rejoice in the triumph of our Lord Jesus Christ over sin and death.
40:58Happy Easter!
41:00Yeoman body, by the left.
41:02Quick! March!
41:03Chapel clerk, Yeoman warder Terry Briggs, carried the iconic Ethiopian cross, and remarkably, it was recognised by someone in the crowd.
41:15The granddaughter of the silversmith who made this amazing cross was actually in attendance.
41:21This is used every Sunday for a church service inside the St. Peter's.
41:26And she could go back with some amazing stories to her grandfather, who's going to be very proud.
41:30Being able to see the cross that my grandfather made is such an honour.
41:33I didn't know that his cross was going to be used at the Easter ceremony today,
41:37and so it kind of was just a perfect set of coincidences actually.
41:41The Easter service has brought the community together.
41:43And as one tower story begins...
41:47It meant the world to have my family here.
41:48It makes it so much more special.
41:51I really enjoyed it.
41:52I was nervous beforehand, I won't lie.
41:55It's the first time I've worn uniform.
41:56Nothing fell off when I walked or I didn't fall over.
41:59I was worried about slipping.
42:00So, um, no, it's all good.
42:02I really enjoyed it.
42:03But I am quite glad that the first one is now done.
42:07Another ends.
42:08It was a little bit more sort of emotional than I thought it was.
42:11This is my last time in reds, which is a great honour.
42:15I mean, that's the king cipher on your chest.
42:17It's a very special uniform to put on,
42:20and I shall take it off with a little lump in my throat, I think.
42:26Splendiferous.
42:32Next time, some new arrivals are causing quite a stir.
42:36Hello, mate.
42:37I've got the two new ravers at the Tower of London,
42:39and they're sharing my kitchen.
42:43The ancient fortress prepares for one of its most complex events in years.
42:49It's a good test for us to see how we're going to get all these pieces into site safely and securely over our medieval drawbridges.
42:56You all right here?
43:00And there's a brand-new discovery that changes everything we know about Queen Elizabeth I.
43:05This complete rewriting of history from one page to the next, that is spine-tingling.
43:11It's spine-tingling.
43:12MUSIC
43:15That's a great idea.
43:16The original license.
43:18It's also kit to the next-to-heart out of the area.
43:21I'm sorry.
43:22I'm sorry.
43:23Go back to this.
43:24The next slide.
43:25You just have to get a shot of the decree.
43:27Of course, I am.
43:29You just have to get a shot of the decree.
43:30The next step is the beginning to the decree.
43:31I'm sorry.
43:32You're the not-tongued.
43:34I'm sorry.
43:36I'm sorry.
43:38You're the not-tongued.
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