As many people have remarked, a terror attack in the centre of London was expected at some point, although it is no less shocking for that. Aside from St Peter’s Basilica or perhaps the Eiffel Tower, there is probably no other European building as recognisable to Europe’s enemies as the Palace of Westminster.
Theresa May wasn’t quite correct when she referred to it as the oldest Parliament – both Iceland and the Isle of Man have more ancient bodies, being descended from those egalitarian Vikings – but it’s certainly fair to call Westminster the Mother of Parliaments, a powerful symbol of representative government.
Just west of the city of London and located by the Thames, Thorney Island has been a royal residence since most likely England’s Danish king Canute (1016-1035) and certainly Edward the Confessor (1042-1066), who restored the House of Wessex after Canute’s hooligan sons had drunk themselves to death.
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