Many monarchs lived here and the palace, which is very large, has been altered over the years to suit whichever king or queen was on the throne.
We visited several exhibitions including the Tudor kitchens and wine cellar - both vast cavernous places and the Royal chapel where a copy of Henry's crown is displayed. The original was destroyed by Oliver Cromwell as was the large stained glass window in the chapel.
Queen Mary 11's exhibition featured several Royal beds from State bedchambers - where they actually held court, not slept! This was called 'Secrets of the Royal Bedchamber'.
The Baroque Story told of the changes to the palace made by Christopher Wren and others for William and Mary of Orange when they took the crown from James 11 - fascinating stuff.
We toured William 111's private apartments which were still furnished with his State bed and the one he really used which was decorated with bright yellow hangings chosen by him - he must have been colour blind!
Throughout the day, we kept coming across characters role playing, including Henry V111 and Anne Boleyn. Just before our departure we met the 2 of them in a courtyard and had a private audience. King Henry presented Gail with a groat and threatened to have Robert beheaded because he made a salacious suggestion to Anne Boleyn - which was warmly received by her!
The gardens around the palace were truly beautiful with sweeping lawns, colourful flowers and topiary trees. We saw the large grape vine from Henry's day which still gives grapes in September each year - now sold in the palace shop but up till the 1920s were only for Royal use. It is the largest grapevine in the world.
1 comment:
What a fantastic day out, it looks like so much fun - and unlike narrow boats you only have the risk of Bluff King Hal having your head chopped off! This is definately on my list of things to do in the UK.
xoxo
Di
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