For those familiar with English history, to think of Hampton Court Palace is to think of Henry VIII, his six wives, and royal Renaissance opulence. But it was actually Cardinal Wolsey, Henry VIII’s right-hand man, who first transformed this country house into a grand palace that was fit for a camp cardinal such as himself. It was during Wolsey’s downfall that Henry VIII made the residence his own. Subsequent kings and queens made several alterations to the palace as the years went by, but the most significant reconstruction came during William III and Mary II’s reign when major baroque-style adjustments were made to the residence.
The palace that is shown to the public today therefore highlights Hampton Court’s contrasting Tudor and Baroque styles. Henry VIII’s state apartments are juxtaposed by William III’s, which was built with the intention of making Hampton Court rival the Palace of Versailles. Although William’s ambitions -objectively- did not come to fruition, both Henry VIII’s and William III’s state apartments are as suitably grand as you might come to expect a royal British palace to be.
What makes Hampton Court a favourite haunt for young families and gentile pensioners alike, however, are perhaps how history comes to life within the palace walls. Henry VIII’s lavish appetite lurks through the Great Hall as visitors are given data on how much food the court consumed: ‘In one year the court can eat: 1240 oxen, 8200 sheep, 2330 deer, 60 calves, 1870 pigs & 53 wild boar’. Or so we are told by the tablecloths that drape over the Hall’s feasting tables.
Indeed, the Palace’s expertly restored kitchens further drive home the logistical and operational task of preparing 1600 meals a day to Henry and his courtiers. A labyrinth of stone passageways leads to a fully stocked wine cellar, a bakery filled with pies, and a large smoking hall where you could still see tall traces of smoke that has imprinted itself throughout the centuries.
And how can one forget Henry VIII’s gory and vindictive life story that has inevitably earned him an outsized presence in English history? The story of Henry’s life and his six wives have been told, retold, and reinterpreted by every form of media imaginable from novels, to films, to television, to musicals. The public fascination with this particular king will surely endure and liven the Palace with visitors for decades to come. After all, it was in these very walls that Jane Seymour died after giving birth to her son Edward, and where Henry found out about Catherine Howard’s adulterous affairs.
Hampton Court’s gardens, on the other hand, provide a more tranquil exterior to the calculated chaos that brewed behind the towering walls throughout the centuries. This is to William and Mary’s credit, who extended their baroque ambitions into the outdoors with the Great Fountain Garden and the ancient Maze that still delights visitors today.
Hampton Court’s most treasured gem, however, must be the Chapel Royal. If you are lucky enough to visit on the right day, you should certainly attend one of the Chapel Royal’s religious services regardless of one’s personal faith (you can also attend a service without a palace admission ticket). As a working chapel, it is one of the few sites in the Palace where photography is not allowed. All the better for it, as this is a space where history and the present day become truly intertwined, married in contentious harmony.
With its rich blue vaulted ceiling installed by Henry VIII in the 1530s, the Chapel has lived through not only some of the most dramatic moments in Tudor history, but the Chapel bore witness to some of England’s most seismic shifts in history when it comes to religion.
Henry attended services with Catherine of Aragon (a devoted Catholic) and later Anne Boleyn (who promoted evangelicals) from the royal pew on the first-floor, overlooking the main chapel. Edward VI was christened here after he was born, and when his mother Jane Seymour died, she lay in state here for three weeks. And within the space of 60 odd years, the services in this Chapel must have underwent a linguistic game of ping pong; services were conducted in Latin at the beginning of Henry’s reign, in English during Edward VI’s reign, in Latin during Mary I’s reign, and back into English during Elizabeth I’s reign. One could almost see the most instrumental figures of Tudor England- like Catholics Thomas Howard and Stephen Gardiner- staring daggers at Protestant reformers like Thomas Cromwell from across the pews.
All in all, Hampton Court Palace remains a fantastic place to visit for locals and guests as it did 500 years ago. Whether you are a fan of history, art, or the outdoors, there is something for everyone to enjoy.
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