Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Henry the Eighth I am, I am...



Elizabethan pies


Some pictures from a grey day out at Hampton Court Palace, once home of King Henry VIII, he of the many wives...and only one widow. Can you name them? Ok, ok...I looked it up for you:

The VIII
The six women to hold the title 'queens consort' of King Henry VIII were, in order:
Catherine of Aragon (annulled),
Anne Boleyn (beheaded),
Jane Seymour (died days after giving birth, widely believed to be following birth complications),
Anne of Cleves (annulled)
Catherine Howard (beheaded),
Catherine Parr (survived).

Thanks, Wikipedia, what would we do without you?

Hampton Court also housed many later kings and queens, particularly those of the Stuart period, and Christopher Wren had a go at renovations. There is a formal garden, and a maze, and...but the star attraction has to be the Tudor kitchens, where vassals and slaveys cook liked Elizabethans for the visitors's enthralment. 

Just 45 minutes from London on the train, beside the Thames. But the boats don't run in winter.

Wren's influence in the newer part of the Palace

Costumed actors squabbling over the little Prince Edward VI
Hampton Court Palace.

A quiet corner. Tudor plumbing?

Vassal hard at work.

"Fish Court" - where they kept the fish, presumably.

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