Queen to hold investitures at Windsor

LONDON, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Queen Elizabeth of Britain plans to hold investitures at her favorite home, Windsor Castle, for the first time.

Two investitures -- the ceremony of granting knighthoods and other royal honors -- are scheduled for the castle in November and December, The Telegraph reports. If those being honored like the change of venue, more ceremonies will be held at Windsor next year.

While the November ceremony was moved partly because Buckingham Palace in London is being used for Prince Charles' birthday celebrations, the shift is also part of a long-term change. A source told The Telegraph that the queen, now 82, wants to spend more time at Windsor.

Elizabeth was the first monarch since Queen Victoria to spend much time at the castle in peacetime. The royal family spent the war years at Windsor because it was thought to be safer from German bombers than Buckingham Palace.

Windsor, founded 1,000 years ago, is the oldest continually inhabited castle in the world and, with extensive additions over the centuries, the largest inhabited one.