Hampton Court Palace
I think I can safely say that, before coming to London, the one thing I really wanted to do while here was go to Hampton Court Palace. Hampton Court was built by Thomas Wolsey from 1515-1521. It was such a beautiful and modern palace that Henry VIII (and nobles) often visited. When Wolsey began to fall from power (for not securing Henry VIII’s divorce from Katherine of Aragon from the Roman Catholic Church) he gave the palace to the King in a bid to secure favour. Henry VIII soon moved in and began rebuilding the palace, making it even grander. Though the Royal Court would frequently move from palace to palace around the country, Hampton Court was Henry VIII’s favorite. So much Tudor history is connected to the Palace – that’s, of course, why I so desperately wanted to visit. Hampton Court remained a royal palace until George III ascended the throne (1760) when the Palace fell out of use.
Charlotte and I took the train out (it’s only 11 miles west of central London – probably 30 minutes by train) and made a day of it. We wandered throughout the (acres of) gorgeous gardens and ate our lunch in The Wilderness Garden and explored the maze and went on four 30 minute costumed tours of the Palace throughout the day. Our first tour was just a general orientation of the grounds, given by one of William III (1650-1702)’s nobles, the second was of Henry VIII’s apartments and was given by Henry VIII’s doctor and Lady (Lady Jane Grey’s mother) and the third was of William and Mary’s apartments and was given by one of Mary II (1662-1694)’s ladies-in-waiting. But the fourth tour! Thomas Seymour (who was, incidentally, Jane Seymour – Henry VIII’s third wife – ‘s brother) began by telling us he was about to go propose to Catherine Parr. Then, as he was about to leave a noblewomen came and took us along with her to Catherine Parr’s apartments to deliver Henry VIII’s marriage proposal where we met, of course, Catherine Parr and her brother. As she was contemplating Henry VIII’s proposal Thomas Seymour burst in with his proposal… but of course one can’t refuse the King. All three of the tours were a little silly, I suppose, but they were great fun – the last tour most of all. (Catherine Parr did eventually marry Thomas Seymour after Henry VIII’s death but soon afterwards died in childbirth.) Even though the gardens were absolutely gorgeous, the Tudor kitchens immense, the Georgian rooms and King’s Apartments impressive, I, of course, liked the Tudor rooms best.
Charlotte eventually tore me away and we went to Martin (our program director)’s house in north London for a St. George’s Day BBQ. (St. George being England’s patron saint). Most people painted the English flag (with St. George’s red cross) on their faces, but Martin had the biggest and reddest cross.
Photographs: to be posted soon
Charlotte and I took the train out (it’s only 11 miles west of central London – probably 30 minutes by train) and made a day of it. We wandered throughout the (acres of) gorgeous gardens and ate our lunch in The Wilderness Garden and explored the maze and went on four 30 minute costumed tours of the Palace throughout the day. Our first tour was just a general orientation of the grounds, given by one of William III (1650-1702)’s nobles, the second was of Henry VIII’s apartments and was given by Henry VIII’s doctor and Lady (Lady Jane Grey’s mother) and the third was of William and Mary’s apartments and was given by one of Mary II (1662-1694)’s ladies-in-waiting. But the fourth tour! Thomas Seymour (who was, incidentally, Jane Seymour – Henry VIII’s third wife – ‘s brother) began by telling us he was about to go propose to Catherine Parr. Then, as he was about to leave a noblewomen came and took us along with her to Catherine Parr’s apartments to deliver Henry VIII’s marriage proposal where we met, of course, Catherine Parr and her brother. As she was contemplating Henry VIII’s proposal Thomas Seymour burst in with his proposal… but of course one can’t refuse the King. All three of the tours were a little silly, I suppose, but they were great fun – the last tour most of all. (Catherine Parr did eventually marry Thomas Seymour after Henry VIII’s death but soon afterwards died in childbirth.) Even though the gardens were absolutely gorgeous, the Tudor kitchens immense, the Georgian rooms and King’s Apartments impressive, I, of course, liked the Tudor rooms best.
Charlotte eventually tore me away and we went to Martin (our program director)’s house in north London for a St. George’s Day BBQ. (St. George being England’s patron saint). Most people painted the English flag (with St. George’s red cross) on their faces, but Martin had the biggest and reddest cross.
Photographs: to be posted soon
posted by Autumn at 9:48 AM
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