Chauffeur Tour - Hampton Court

Hampton Court Palace is a former royal palace in the East Molesey, Surrey, England. The palace is located 11.7 miles (18.8 km) south west of Charing Cross and upstream of Central London on the River Thames. It is open to the public as a major tourist attraction. The palace's Home Park is the site of the annual Hampton Court Palace Festival and Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. Along with St. James's Palace, it is one of only two surviving palaces out of the many owned by Henry VIII. It is estimated that over 55 million people have visited Hampton Court Palace, and it is reserved as a well known landmark of South-East England.

The Palace houses many works of art and furnishings from the Royal Collection, mainly dating from the two main periods of the Palace's construction, the early Tudor (Renaissance) and late Stuart to Early Georgian period. The single most important works are Mantegna's Triumphs of Caesar housed in the Lower Orangery.

Hampton Court is the site of the world-famous Hampton Court Palace Hedge Maze. Planted sometime between 1689 and 1695 by George London and Henry Wise for William III of Orange, it covers a third of an acre and contains half a mile of paths. It is possible that the current design replaced an earlier maze planted for Thomas Cardinal Wolsey. It was originally planted of hornbeam, although it has been repaired using many different types of hedge.

Ghosts

Queen Jane Seymour gave birth to the future King Edward VI at Hampton Court in 1537. She died there twelve days later, and her ghost is said to haunt the staircase in the Palace to this day. Queen Catherine Howard was arrested there in 1542 and is said to have run along the Long Gallery screaming for King Henry VIII to save her, before his guards caught her and dragged her away. A ghost is said to haunt the palace, sometimes screaming in the same hallway. Others report seeing the King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.

On December 19th 2003, a closed-circuit security camera at Hampton Court had recorded an "indistinct image of "a mysterious figure in a long coat closing the fire doors." According to one report, "a ghostly-looking figure in period dress suddenly appeared on the screen and closed the doors." A female palace visitor wrote in the visitor book that she may have seen a ghost in that area during this time, too. "We're baffled too -- it's not a joke, we haven't manufactured it," said Vikki Wood, a Hampton Court spokeswoman, when asked if the photo the palace released was a Christmas hoax. "We genuinely don't know who it is or what it is."

KING HENRY VIII

Hampton Court is well known as the grounds owned by King Henry VII of England.

Henry VIII (28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547) was King of England and Lord of Ireland, later King of Ireland and claimant to the Kingdom of France, from 21 April 1509 until his death. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII.

Henry VIII was a significant figure in the history of the English monarchy. Although in the first years of his reign he energetically suppressed the Protestant reformation of the church, a movement having roots with the martyr John Wycliffe of the 14th century, he is more popularly known for his political struggles with Rome. These struggles ultimately led to him separating the Anglican church from the Roman hierarchy, the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and establishing himself as the Supreme Head of the Church of England. Although some claim he became a Protestant on his death-bed, he advocated catholic ceremony and doctrine throughout his life. Royal backing of the English Reformation was left to his heirs, the devout Edward VI and the renowned Elizabeth I, whilst daughter Mary I temporarily reinstated papal authority over England. Henry also oversaw the legal union of England and Wales (see Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542). He is noted for his six marriages.

The Six Wives of Henry VIII

Catherine of Aragon Anne Boleyn (Beheaded)

Jane Seymore Anne of Cleves

Catherine Howard (Beheaded) Catherine Parr

Thomas Wolsey, then Archbishop of York and Chief Minister to the King, took over the lease in 1514 and rebuilt the 14th century manor house over the next seven years (1515–1521) to form the nucleus of the present palace. Wolsey spent lavishly to build the finest palace in England at Hampton Court, which he was later forced to give to Henry as he began to fall from favour.

Tudor sections of Hampton Court, which were later overhauled and rebuilt by Henry VIII, suggest that Wolsey intended it as an ideal Renaissance cardinal's palace in the style of Italian architects such as il Filarete and Leonardo da Vinci: rectilinear symmetrical planning, grand apartments on a raised piano nobile, classical detailing. Jonathan Foyle has suggested (see link) that it is likely that Wolsey had been inspired by Paolo Cortese's De Cardinalatu, a manual for cardinals that included advice on palatial architecture, published in 1510. Planning elements of long-lost structures at Hampton Court appear to have been based on Renaissance geometrical programs, an Italian influence more subtle than the famous terracotta busts of Roman emperors by Giovanni da Maiano that survive in the great courtyard (illustration, right above). Hampton Court remains the only one of 50 palaces built by Henry VIII financed from the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

Hampton Court has many historic features, but no visit should missout on:

The Clock

The interior facade of the Main Gatehouse contains a fine early example of a post-Copernican astronomical clock. The clock shows the time of day, the phases of the moon, the month, which quarter of the year we're in, the date, the sun and even the star sign.

Hampton Court Palace Ice Rink

Every year from the first weekend of December until the 2nd weekend of January, there is an Ice Rink in the forecourt of the palace. People can skate for up to an hour at a time and then enjoy traditional hot chocolate at the side.