Home of King Henry VIII

Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived...

A voice whispered those creepy words from hidden speakers in the castle where King Henry VIII lived.  At first I thought it was Brandon trying to scare me, but in reality it was the curators trying  to scare everyone! The words represent the fates of Henry's six wives. And the ghost of the beheaded second wife, Kathryn Howard, is rumored to wail down one of the hallways in the castle.

Entrance to the medieval side of the castle

On a sunny and windy Sunday morning, Brandon and I hopped on a train and rode southwest for 30 minutes to visit Hampton Court Palace, the former home of many famous English royals, including King Henry VIII, James I (first king of combined England and Scotland) and Charles I (who was executed during the Civil War.)

Beautiful!

The building dates from the 14th century, and before it was a royal residence, the palace belonged to Cardinal Wolsey, Henry VIII's advisor. Henry liked the manor so much, that he "asked" Wolsey to hand it over. The succeeding rulers frequented the palace (they had others to rotate, of course) until the Civil War, when Oliver Cromwell's troops seized it in 1645.

Learning from professor audio guide

After the restoration of the monarchy, King William III and Mary II (College of William and Mary fame in Williamsburg, Virginia) had the palace renovated by the famous architect, Sir Christopher Wren (Wren designed St Paul's cathedral in London.) Wren demolished 2/3 of the original palace and rebuilt it in Baroque splendor. The resulting view today is a mixture of Medieval (see top photo), Renaissance and Baroque styles - quite a sight to see!

Wren architecture

Renaissance architecture

And the gardens are a lovely place to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Wren side of the castle - note the wind!

Traveling in Europe is teaching me to slow down. When we started to make our way through the gardens, I caught myself mid-step: Why am I power walking through this English tulip garden? This is where I'm supposed to "stop and smell the roses," literally. Moving at a "normal" pace is not natural for me - I blame living in Ann Arbor/Philly/DC! But I'm finding our weekends much more enjoyable and relaxing when I make a conscious effort to slacken my pace and do one thing instead of three. Good thing the English countryside is a perfect place to practice. :)

Thanks for the visit King Henry!