Hampton Court Palace

Aug 25
3 min read

According to Wikipedia, the building of the Hampton Court Palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Archbishop of York and the chief minister of Henry VIII. In 1529, as Wolsey fell from favor, the cardinal gave the palace to the king to try to save his own life, which he knew was now in grave danger due to Henry VIII's deepening frustration and anger. The palace became one of Henry's most favored residences; soon after acquiring it, he enlarged it to accommodate his sizeable retinue of courtiers. Because the palace was occupied by a number of monarchs after Henry, his private rooms have been swept away by the "improvements" they made. His Great Hall, Chapel, and Watching Chamber still remain.

I've been reading a lot of Philippa Gregory's historical novels recently, several of which are set in the court of Henry VIII, so I found this part of the palace particularly interesting.

The Great Hall was where the king and his courtiers would dine. The table coverings display lots of information about feasting at court.

The Palace and its grounds are truly enormous. To its credit, the Historic Royal Palaces organization provides a marvelous audio guide which walks you through various routes within the palace, including Henry VIII's apartments. It wasn't until we were partway through our day there that we saw that small private guided tours were offered. I really wish I had known about that because I'm sure there was a wealth of things to learn.

Henry's Chapel:

This was the view from the Queen's pew in the Royal Chapel:

It was a bit eerie thinking of how all six of Henry's Queens would have occupied this spot. The mix of emotions they must all have felt - from joy to terror - was almost palpable.

Another part of Henry's palace that remains was his kitchen or, more properly, his kitchens. They include a larder, a boiling house, and a fish court, in addition to the Great Kitchens below.

Half of Henry's palace was demolished in the late 1600s. By then, the Tudor palace of Hampton Court had become unfashionable.

These are the Queen's Stairs, part of the new Hampton Court Palace designed by Sir Christopher Wren for William III and Mary II.

Mary died in 1694 before the Queen's apartments had been furnished. In fact, it wasn't until 1734-5 that the rooms were finally completed for Queen Caroline, consort of King George II.

If the Queen's staircase was grand, the king's was grander still.

The Guard Chamber:

The King's Presence Chamber:

The King's Bedchamber:

The King's little bedchamber, where he actually preferred to sleep:

When Queen Elizabeth I died without an heir, the English crown fell to her nearest male relative, King James of Scotland, thus ending the Tudor dynasty. The Stuarts reigned for four generations but when Queen Anne died without an heir, she signed the "Act of Settlement" nominating her Hanoverian cousin, George I, as the new British dynasty. The Act of Settlement disqualified any Roman Catholic - or anyone who married one - from inheriting the British throne. (For an informative and witty account of the monarchy from Queen Anne to the present, I highly recommend David Poyser's post on the guidelondon.org blog.)

The Georgian rooms of the Palace are still opulent,