London: Leaving Hampton Court

June 12, 2013 Hampton Court was so fun, we could have stayed all day. There was so much to see, and so much more to learn.

An interior courtyard.

 We spied some really old graffiti. :-) Kinda fun.

Hampton Court has a small cafe where you can eat lunch. We had a discount with our London Pass, and so decided to grab a few morsels before heading to our next destination. We weren't sure where it was, or how to get there, and found a very nice Palace employee, who didn't just tell us where it was, but walked us there. On the way he showed us a few neat little things we might have missed other wise. I love nice people. :-)


This was a beautiful outdoor corridor. I can just imagine Henry VIII walking along here with his robes billowing and his advisors around him, trying to keep up with that long stride.  

 We turned down another corridor. Look how thick those walls are!

 Our impromptu guide showed us this beautiful chapel. He explained that employees of Hampton Court are the only ones allowed to get married in here. But there are services here, and those who live and work nearby can come worship.

We all chose traditional items for lunch. Joseph had a sausage and bread and a Bacon Betty (or something like that). I had ratatouille, and something like a pork roll thing. Of course we had a scone as well.

How did it taste? Kind of bland, but spicy at the same time.

 This little kitchen used to be Elizabeth I's private kitchen.

The scone.

After lunch we had enough time to leave through the gardens.

 I was obviously missing my wisteria back home! :-)

 Did you know that the Hampton Court Palace Maze is the oldest surviving hedge maze, having been built for King William III and Mary II in 1690? The maze covers an area of .5 acres and the paths are a total of .5 miles.  So of course, we had to try it...

We did it!!! :-)

 This is the most amazing color of rose!

Notice the little crown on top of the street light?

 Just a swan and some cool rowing in the river running by Hampton Court.

On to our next spot! ...The Churchill War rooms.

London: Hampton Court Part 5: More Wives 2

June 13, 2013
The next room was a pretty cool room. It was the Privy Council Chamber.

The room was set up as it would have been for the council. The cool part of it was, that at the back of several chairs, were videos of the "council members" in discussion with each other. You could sit in one of the chairs and take part in the discussion.

Notice the unusual floor.

Anne of Cleves: The Anne of Cleves "mini monument" is found in the council room. It is kind of sad why. See, Henry was pretty upset after the whole mess with the young Catherine Howard. Apparently he was so grumpy, he was getting difficult to live with, so his counselors thought if he would marry again, it might alleviate his frustrations. So they searched for a suitable bride and thought that this nice German girl would work. They brought him a portrait of her, because he wanted to know what she looked like, and according to the painting, she was pretty enough.

So arrangements were made, and agreements forged, and she made the trek from Germany to England, with some ceremony. The problem was, she didn't look much like her portrait. No one knows if it was just that the artist wasn't very good, or if he just painted flattering portraits as a practice, or if it was done and ordered by her family to make an alliance with the King, but regardless, he was NOT happy. Lets just say she was a "sweet spirit". In Henry's words, she had the face of a horse! So mean! Anyway, he had to marry her, but then couldn't handle staying married. Apparently for really no other reason than she wasn't young and pretty. So he found himself again, in the position of needing a legal way out of a marriage. This is where the Privy Council Chamber comes in. His Councillors had to figure out what to do, to make Henry happy, not completely humiliate Anne, and not start a war, by breaking the alliance. As all good politicians, they were successful, and records show that she was a good enough sport to stay "friends" with him, and even came back to court to visit! Now THAT is a good woman!!

Portraiture and the Birth of a Dynasty:

Hence, the Tudor Rose. (remember the floor in the Privy Council Chamber?)

Katheryn Parr: Henry's Final Wife

That would be one rough family reunion.