HAMPTON COURT PALACE V
isit Hampton Court this summer and in just one day you can experience 500 years of history from famous events
to the untold tales of the Palace. You will meet characters from the Palace’s past and witness scenes of court life from the Tudors to the Georgians. Don’t miss the Tudor Kitchens, filled with the delicious smells, sounds and bustle of long ago and all the special events, displays and entertainments planned for this momentous year. Half a millennium has passed since Cardinal Wolsey, King Henry VIII’s trusted adviser, commissioned builders to lay the foundations of Hampton Court Palace, a vast palace complex suitable for entertaining his master. The previous year the Cardinal had acquired a private manor house on the site the palace occupies today from the family of courtier, Giles Daubney. At that time Wolsey’s star was in ascendancy as Henry’s most trusted servant. Fourteen years later, in 1528, Wolsey gifted Hampton Court to the King knowing that his downfall was imminent due to his failure to resolve the King’s Great Matter of his divorce from Katharine of Aragon.
A unique year of celebration is underway as Hampton Court Palace marks its 500 years anniversary.
Since the Royal occupancy began, Hampton Court has witnessed the honeymoons of Henry VIII, Mary I and Charles II and the birth and baptism of Henry VIII’s longed for heir, Prince Edward. It has been the setting for confrontations and private meetings between Mary I and her half-sister Elizabeth; between Elizabeth and her many suitors; and between Charles I and Oliver Cromwell. It is the place where Jane Seymour, Henry VIII’s third wife, died soon after Prince Edward’s birth. Here William III suffered a fatal accident; Shakespeare performed in the Great Hall for King James I; Handel played in the Chapel Royal; and Jerome K Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat got lost in the famous maze! In 1647 Charles I was brought to Hampton
Court as a prisoner where he was held for three months before evading his guards and escaping via the garden stairs to a boat waiting at the river’s edge. As Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell used the Palace for his own enjoyment, spending weekends there. His daughter, Mary was married in the Chapel Royal in 1657. Following the restoration of the monarchy, Charles II had the great canal, now known as the Long Water, constructed as a
gift for his new Queen, Catherine of Braganza. In 1689 joint monarchs William III and Mary II commissioned Sir Christopher Wren to demolish large parts of the Tudor palace and to rebuild it in the latest baroque style. Fast forward to 1838 and the young Queen Victoria ordered that Hampton Court Palace ‘should be thrown open to all her subjects without restriction’, and began an ambitious programme of restoration. Today it is owned by the Queen on behalf of the nation and looked after by the independent charity, Historic Royal Palaces (
www.hrp.org.uk) whose aim is to help everyone explore the palace’s unique heritage. This summer visitors will be able to get up close and personal with a cast of costumed characters bringing Hampton Court’s history to life. Visitors might witness Catherine Howard’s attempted flight towards Henry VIII in a vain attempt to save her life, or stumble upon Charles I and Oliver Cromwell deep in conversation. Watch out for Elizabeth I’s giant porter brought to life in the Tudor rooms he once guarded and where his portrait now hangs. 2015 certainly promises to be an action packed exciting year at Hampton Court Palace – after all, you only turn 500 years old once!
surrey magazine summer 2015 33
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