Hundreds of visitors crowded outside the castle west of London on Thursday for the reopening of Windsor Castle after the end of the royal mourning period.

The castle, where the British Queen has spent most of her time since the start of the corona pandemic, had been closed to the public since the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8th.

The Queen was buried on September 19 in a side chapel of the church alongside her husband Prince Philip, who died last year, along with her sister Margaret and her parents.

Visitors can now view the new tombstone for the Queen there.

1.5 million visitors per year

Singaporean Terence Tan, who was in the UK on a multi-day visit to London, had booked his ticket as soon as the date for the palace's reopening was known.

"I wanted to see that because it's an important thing, something that only happens once in a lifetime," he explained.

Julie Davies and her husband Allan came to Windsor from Liverpool and, like millions of other Brits, had watched the funeral ceremonies for the Queen, who had died at the age of 96, on television.

"When you then see the castle in reality, everything suddenly comes to life," she described her impressions.

She and her husband would "remember that visit for the rest of our lives."

Windsor is one of the UK's top tourist attractions.

Before the number of tourists collapsed as a result of the corona pandemic, the castle had around 1.5 million visitors a year.