Hampton Court Palace, London

Hampton Court Palace.

Twelve English Monarchs have at some point called Hampton Court Palace home, some of the most influential people in history have graced its interiors, and some very strange paranormal activity has been reported inside and outside this majestic palace. Situated on the River Thames it was first built not for royalty, but for the clergy. Thomas Wolsey held a great number of ecclesiastical titles, Bishop of Durham, Archbishop of York and Minister to King Henry VIII being the most important. His roles not only had him as the head of the Catholic faith in England but also had him as a primary advisor to King Henry too, Wolsey took over the lease of the land in 1514 and spent massive amounts of money on building the palace, he of course got this money from the taxes of the churches in England Ireland and Wales. Henry and Wolsey knew each other well and they fell in and out of friendship often, things came to a head however when Henry split with his wife Catherine of Aragon (who Wolsey hated) and he split with the Catholic Church of Rome, instead henry made himself the head of the Church of England, a new Protestant faith which immediatly set the Catholic states of Europe against England. By this time however Wolsey had given Hampton Court to the King as a gift, trying to save his own neck as much as anything as the King listened more to the advice of other ministers than Wolsey, in the end Wolsey died anyway.

It is thought that Wolsey wanted Hampton Court to become the archetypical Catholic Palace such as the ones in Spain or Italy (which Leonardo da Vinci created), when henry took over he ripped out the Catholic overtones and gave it his own personnel touch, it was 1525 when he took it over but Wolsey still lived there until 1529. Henry added a great hall for feasts and banquets, he also added an indoor tennis court, much different from the game we have today. A further slap on Wolsey’s face came when Henry moved in with Anne Boleyn, they spent many hours in the gardens and mazes outside, where Henry woudl write love letters to her, as he had done whilst courting her. He also moved in Jane Seymour, his third wife, when she fell heavily pregnant with his son and future heir Edward, she however died just days after giving birth in Hampton Court. Henry also moved in his wife Catherine Howard who had adulterous affairs and was arrested at Hampton Court, but not before she was chased around some of the rooms by Henry’s soldiers, screaming for Henry to protect her. The troubles of Henry’s offspring brought no great significant event to Hampton Court, when Elizabeth gave the Kingdom to the Scottish King James VI, James I of England, he used it as a meeting place for Puritan ministers who were starting to cause trouble in England, James met with their leaders in 1601 at the Hampton Court Conference and although no real agreement could be brought between the two sides it was during these meetings that the English written King James Bible came into being. The next eighty years saw war and turmoil hit England like never before, roughly 30% of the country’s population died of Civil War or plague brought about by the War. In 1689 the British parliament did not like Catholic James II, son of Charles I, on the throne and so they invited Dutch Prince William of Orange to take over along with his wife Mary (Mary was James II’s daughter). These two were Protestant and although there was still much bloodshed to come before they could be truly King and Queen they made the best of it by making Hampton Court their home, half of the Tudor building came down to be replaced by new designs created by Sir Christopher Wren, who had famously re-designed London after the Great Fire of 1666. After Mary died William lapsed into a mournful existence, he lost interest in the house or the running of the state and in 1702 he fell from his horse at Hampton Court and died of his injuries days later at Kensington Palace.

Since the reign of King George III in 1760 the Palace had lost its pedigree and the Royalty simply stayed at other London Palaces, giving Hampton Court over to Grace and Favour owners, including Olave Baden-Powell whose husband created the Scout movement and Samuel Parke who won a Victoria Cross during the Charge of the Light Brigades action at the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimea.

Henry’s wives play and active role in the Paranormal Activity of Hampton Court, Anne Boleyn and Henry have been seen walking together in the Garden, Catherine Howard’s screams have been heard echoing down corridors from where she was chased by Henry’s Guards and the young King Edward, Henry’s son who died aged nine has also been seen crying for his mother, whilst she has been seen crying too in the room she gave birth in. In October 2003 I remember seeing on GMTV the pictures of a ghost at Hampton Court closing some fire doors, this of course was a fake (the figure wears trainers) and was discounted at the time but still some people are convinced this was a ghost.