Last Tuesday morning, a dozen of our volunteers met with Rachel in the Tiltyard Café and started to make our way around the ornate Palace. It was the start of a beautifully charged day of history learning, musing, art inspiration and wonderment. We began our free tour on the first floor, soaking in our imagination of what it would be like to be invited to one of Henry VIII’s banquets. The high ceilings in the dining room, I thought, made sure that none of his indulged guests felt claustrophobic after a rich night full of food and wine! After immersing ourselves in what seemed to be a pleasant and joyful lifestyle of the King, we made our way to his private quarters, and were hit with the reality that his life was not all that enviable after all. Legend has it that the green hallway leading to the King’s room and his private chapel is the most haunted space in the entire palace, therefore most visitor faints happen there. Luckily we were all unharmed as were the masses of families there! The room is said to be haunted by the ghost of Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s second wife, who was dragged out of the chapel by her husband’s guards as she pleaded for his mercy. Aside from this painful anecdote, we got the chance to see a live reenactment of the announcement of the King’s arrival, wonderfully recreated by actors in costume. It was our lucky day, as it was half-term and these actors enabled us to reimagine life under Henry VIII with an air of fun and entertainment that made more than just the kids happy.
Henry VIII in topiary splendour at Hampton Court Palace
Palace with a View: One of the many glorious gardens at Hampton Court that we were able to explore
Afterwards, we were thrilled to visit the Gallery to dote upon the Palace’s collection of masterpieces by Rembrandt and Caravaggio, to name a few. By the end of the Gallery, we were all running out of mental and physical fuel so we decided to reconvene to the Tiltyard Café for a quick bite. The path to the café was splendid as we made our way through the Rose Garden and the Kitchen Garden, basking in the vast fields of nature’s glory. At lunch, we sat together to share each other’s thoughts and discuss the site. We were all baffled by the sheer size of Hampton Court Palace and were astounded that, three hours in, we’d only seen less than half of it. The good thing about this is we were left curious and were eager to continue as soon as we had something to eat. I set out to visit the Privy Garden and was in complete awe of the scenery. I established there and then that this garden is by far my favourite spot in the entire Palace (sorry Caravaggio). I ended my day with an intriguing look at Real Tennis, the way it was played by Henry VIII and his company. I cannot fathom how those small rackets were efficient but I left thinking how funny and strange life really is: in each century, society enjoyed the same things (like good food, art, entertainment and sport). We just keep evolving.
Thank you to everyone who’s sent us blog posts, we will be posting them on here in the coming weeks.