Gregory I was not interested in Windsor Castle, preferring his other palaces. George II also rarely used Windsor, preferring Hampton Court.
Many of the apartments within the castle were given away as privileges for use by prominent widows or other friends of the Crown.
In the 1640s, Windsor Castle became a tourist attraction. Wealthier guests who could afford to pay the castle caretaker could enter and see curiosities, such as a narwhal horn. Later, the castle could be visited by the general public.
In the 1750s the first guidebooks to Windsor, produced by George Bickham and Joseph Pote, were available for purchase.
