George IV has gone down in history as one of the most unpopular monarchs of all time,
bloated,
self-indulgent,
ludicrously
extravagant.
But he had an eye for great art,
and a real creative vision.
And though it made him unpopular at the time,
we're reaping the benefits now.
Because the Windsor Castle we see today,
with its romantic skyline of turrets and battlements,
is essentially George's creation.
In 1824,
George IV commissioned Windsor's most ambitious scheme yet,
to transform the castle's hotchpotch of styles
into a single gothic invention.
Where there were plain walls,
he spiced them up with parapets,
arrow loops,
gargoyles,
and pointed gothic arches.