Windsor Castle Capers

The current uproar about Aaron Barschak, the comedian who gatecrashed
Prince William's party at Windsor Castle brought back memories of my own
visit, 13 years ago. In 1990 I was working for a company based in Harrow on the Hill that delivered electrical appliances. One docket was simply addressed
"The Mews, Windsor" which I couldn't find in the street directory.

"I know where it is" said the driver, a man who had worked for the
company for many years, "we will leave that one till last."

At the end of the day we came to the Castle, and he said:

"Look! Her Royal Highness is in!" and pointed to a flag he said only
flies when the Queen is at home. He said he had rarely made deliveries to the
Castle, only one or two a year. Security was tight, due the first Gulf
War, but after a brief inspection of our pantechnion, we were allowed in.
There are homes, shops and a chapel (where Henry the Eighth is buried)
inside the Castle. It even has its own railway station. The people who
lived in the castle grounds did so by Royal Invitation only.

The lady who ordered the refridgerator lived in a small flat with
windows at street level but we had to man-handle the fridge down some stairs below
street level.

"Oh, what a difficult job you have" said the lady, the wife of a
retired Admiral, in the best British accent imaginable. She offered us a cup of
tea but my companion said we were too busy.

Being young and curious, I wanted to know more, and asked as we were
leaving:

"Do you know the Queen?"

"Oh yes, I was talking to her this morning... she was in fine spirits"
she said, giving us a tip of five pounds.

Tupaj Katari, the Standing Serpent of La Paz

While in La Paz I came upon some curious dioramas in the Juan de Vargas
Museum. Using clay figurines they depicted great moments in Bolivian
history: the foundation of La Paz, the Battle of Ingavi, the hanging of
Pedro Murillo, and the death by quartering of Tupaj Katari. Schoolchildren
oohed and aahed as they were herded around by a strict teacher. So the question begs ...who was Tupac Katari?

Tupaj Katari was the adopted name of Julian Apasa, born around 1750. His
name means "standing serpent". Katari raised an indigenous army of 40,000,
which he led in two seiges against the Spanish in La Paz in 1781. The first
seige lasted 3 months, the second 2 months. Tactics employed included an
attempt to divert the Choqueyapu River to flood the city. Katari retreated
to El Alto where he was betrayed after the
Royalists offered a pardon to the rebels who turned over their commanders.
Katari's fate was horrendous: his torture included cutting out his tongue,
to symbolize the silencing of rebel talk; then, while still alive, his
limbs were tied to four horses who were whipped till they tore his body
apart. The terrible scream he cried out is said to echo through the Andes to
this day. His head was put on display atop a hill in La Paz, other parts of
his body were dispatched to various locations as a warning to the rebels.
Thus he met the same fate as his comrade in arms Tupac Amaru, after whom he
named himself.

Bartolina Sisa, his wife, had been a rebel leader with authority equal to
Katari's. A year later she was raped, whipped, then executed as her sentence
dictated: a rope was tied around her neck, the other end to a horse which
then was trotted around La Paz' Plaza Mayor till she was dead. Parts of her
dismembered body was sent on a grisly tour of rebel towns, before being
cremated and the ashes thrown to the wind. Katari's sister was also
executed, while Katari and Bartolina's ten year old son was taken into
custody and never seen again.

Katari's words when captured were "... A mí solo me matarán, pero mañana
volveré y seremos miles..." or "you kill only me, but tomorrow I will come
back and there will thousands..." - a prophecy that came true in a way, as
today there are four different Katarist political parties in Bolivia, along
with a group calling itself the Tupac Katari Army, a terrorist organisation
which struggles against the government.