Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE GHOST OF CATHERINE HOWARD
Henry VIII married his fifth wife,
Catherine Howard
, in July 1540, just weeks after having
annulled his six-month marriage to Anne of Cleves. Unfortunately, despite being less than 20,
Catherine had already had sexual relations with her music tutor,
Henry Mannox
, was
pre-contracted to marry her lover, another courtier named
Francis Dereham
, and began an
affair with another courtier named
Thomas Culpeper
. Her ambitious family - who were out
of favour since the execution of Anne Boleyn, Catherine's cousin - somewhat optimistically
hoped to conceal these inconvenient truths from Henry, and to restore their influence at court.
It took until November 1541 for Henry to find out he'd been duped. Seated in the Royal Pew
at Hampton Court, he was passed the note from Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of
Canterbury, alleging that Catherine was not in fact a virgin when he married her. Catherine
was arrested a few days later, but is alleged to have given her guards the slip and run down the
Haunted Gallery
in an attempt to make a final plea for mercy to the king, who was praying in
the chapel. Henry refused to see her, and she was dragged kicking and screaming back to her
chambers. To this day, a ghost can be heard re-enacting the scene - or so the story goes.
22
current name from the
astronomical clock
on the inside of the Anne Boleyn Gateway,
made in 1540 for Henry VIII, which was used to calculate the high tide at London
Bridge (and thus the estimated time of arrival of palace guests travelling by boat). The
last and smallest of the three courtyards is Wren's
Fountain Court
, which crams in more
windows than seems possible.
Henry VIII's Apartments
Henry VIII lavished more money on Hampton Court than on any other palace except
Greenwich (which no longer exists). The only major survival from Tudor times,
however, is his
Great Hall
, completed with remarkable speed in 1534, with Henry having
made the builders work day and night - a highly dangerous exercise in candlelight. The
ornate double hammerbeam roof would originally have been painted blue, red and gold
and featured a louvre to allow the smoke to escape from the central hearth. Later, the
hall served as the palace theatre, where theatrical troupes, among them Shakespeare's,
entertained royalty. Even Cromwell had an organ installed here so he and his family
could enjoy recitals by John Milton, an accomplished musician as well as a poet.
Passing through the Horn Room, you enter the
Great Watching Chamber
. he
gilded oak-ribbed ceiling is studded with leather-mâché Tudor insignia, and hung
with tapestries that were part of Wolsey's vast collection. Up to eighty yeomen would
have been stationed here, guarding the principal entrance to the king's private
chambers, which William and Mary found “old-fashioned and uncomfortable” and
consequently demolished.
From here you reach the
Haunted Gallery
, built by Wolsey to connect his apartments
to the chapel, and home to the ghost of Catherine Howard (see box above). The gallery
gives access to the Royal Pew, where you can see a replica of
Henry VIII's Crown of State
,
a magnificent piece of imperial Tudor pomp used for all royal coronations until the
Commonwealth. From the Royal Pew
you can look down on the
Chapel Royal
, and
admire the colourful false-timber Tudor vaulting wrought in plaster, heavy with
pendants of gilded music-making cherubs - one of the most memorable sights in the
whole palace. It was here that Henry married the sixth of his wives (and the only one to
outlive him), Catherine Parr.
Mary II's Apartments
The Queen's apartments remained unfinished at Queen Mary's death in 1694, and
weren't fully furnished and decorated until the time of Queen Caroline, George II's
wife. The main approach is via the grandiose
Queen's Staircase
, splendidly decorated
with trompe-l'oeil reliefs and a coffered dome by William Kent.
