Preparations underway at Windsor Castle as it reopens to public on Monday

Windsor Castle will reopen to the public on Monday (May 17) as coronavirus restrictions ease.

Pictures released by the Royal Collection Trust show staff dusting off the 1.8 metre-high Malachite Urn in the grand reception room and the suits of armour that flank the grand staircase. 

The marble busts in St George's Hall, the largest room in Windsor Castle have been polished.

There are a number of COVID safety measures in place and visitors will have to wear a mask when inside.

Timed tickets have been introduced to reduce capacity and to ease social distancing.

Members of staff at Windsor Castle dust the suits of armour that flank the Grand Staircase

Staff at Windsor Castle install marble busts of Queen Victoria and Emperor Napoleon III in the Inner Hall,
which was restored and opened up to visitors in 2018.

Members of staff dust marble busts in St George’s Hall, the largest room in Windsor Castle, in
preparation for the Castle’s reopening to visitors on 17 May.

Staff dust the 1.8-metre-high Malachite Urn in Windsor Castle’s Grand Reception Room. The vase was
presented to Queen Victoria in 1839 by Tsar Nicholas I after the visit of his eldest son, the future Alexander II,
to England. It was one of the few objects in the Grand Reception Room to survive the fire of
1992, though considerable restoration work was required to restore it to its former magnificence.