the tower of london and shakespeare

Dear Mom,
Friday was a very exciting day. We went to the Tower of London in the morning, which is chock full of history and mystery. For example, there's the Bloody Tower, where King Richard III murdered (supposedly) his two nephews to keep them from getting the throne. Actually there's a lot of debate on the subject, but Shakespeare wrote a play where he did it, and Shakespeare's a pretty smart guy, so I'm siding with him. I did take a stand; there was a little voting button in the exhibit and I voted that Richard III did it. I made the count like 12,341. It was an exciting moment. The Tower is where many of England's most famous executions happened. Anne Boleyn was beheaded by a sword instead of on a chopping block. Lady Jane Grey (a 17 year old with a claim to Bloody Mary's throne), was executed so her supporters wouldn't try to make her queen. All she wanted to do was get married and have babies.
The Tower is also where the CROWN JEWELS are kept. I saw Queen Victoria's mini-crown in person. It is encrusted in diamonds. I also saw various Georges' crowns and William and Mary's scepters... They were all so beautiful the jewels looked fake. I bought a charm of Victoria's crown because it was cheapest. And on one scepter was the biggest diamond I have ever seen. Other than the Hope diamond, but I saw that ten years ago and I remember being disappointed that it wasn't bigger. In any case, the Crown Jewels are amazing.