Today we decided we would get the flat cleaned early and then head off to Hampton Court Palace to spend the day. We had to take the tube to the Waterloo tube station and from there catch an above ground train to go out to Hampton Court. The trip took about 45 minutes to an hour.
Tate, Todd, and Tagg on the train...
A Thatch and Mom selfie...
We got to the Hampton Court station and it was a short walk to the Palace. These are the gates that greet you...
Quick shot of the 4 T's as we were going in...
We let the boys run and play for a while before actually heading in to tour so they could get some of their energy out after being on the train. I love the scenery in the background of my boys playing...
Hampton Court was the home to King Henry VIII, his daughter Queen Mary (half sister of Elizabeth I, daughter of Anne Boleyn), and William III, and George I and George II. I have long been intrigued with Henry VIII and so it was so cool to visit his palace!
The entrance...
The details are amazing. I love even the smallest ornate decorations on the windows.
Poor Anne Boleyn...
When you walk in they have this room where you can get headsets to listen to a guided tour and also these Tutor cloaks for the kids to wear. Tagg was all over this! Thatcher we made put on one just for a picture...
Ahhhh, my little Tutor boys!
This is the Great Hall of Henry VIII's part of the palace. It was so ornate! This is where they would have large dinners and gatherings.
Tate was hardly amused!
What is King Henry compared to a cute chunky boy?!
They would hang fancy tapestries from the walls to show their wealth and opulence. Well, well! We get it! You're king!
Thatcher actually LOVED the guided tour on the handset. They have a special kids version and he was all over it!
The ceiling used to be blue, with the gold sticking through behind to make the objects pop. Over time the blue has disintegrated. What I realized is that it is absolutely practical to have this kind of ceiling in your dining room.
Something that I thought was really cool, since I really like the history of Anne Boleyn. Do you see the H and the A in the right of this middle pannel? Well that was put in these panels when Anne became Queen. After the King had her beheaded for doctored up charges, he ordered that all of these monograms be removed from this paneling. Well they forgot to do this one. Pretty cool!
Poor Anne...
This large picture was of one of Henry's servants. Nice.
It was so fun that they had people dressed up in real Tutor clothing walking around the palace in character. It was really funny to listen to and watch...and kinda freaky.
Even King Henry himself was there! This guy was hilarious. These people really must love history and dressing up and acting.
The boys were very concerned that he had to wear girl shoes.
Going up to the private residence of Henry VIII. Amazing paintings all over the ceilings and walls...
Oh and here he is, the man himself...he sure was a wacko wasn't he? But these crazy kings, and queens, and stories I really just can't get enough of! I love it!
Speaking of cool stories...this hallway has a real cool one! So, King Henry's 5th wife, Catherine, was accused of adultery and put under house arrest here at Hampton Court. She thought that if she could just speak to her husband the King she could beg for her life and he would spare her. So one day she escaped the guards and ran down this hallway trying to get to the King. Well she didn't succeed and was taken back to her room kicking and screaming down this gallery. She was executed at the tower of London just a little while later. Well, the cool part is they say this hallway is now haunted by her ghost and that people often get the chills and eery feelings here. Also, people tend to faint in this hallway while visiting and if you listen really close, you can hear a woman scream! Scary!
The boys trying out the throne in the counsel room...
I tried to get Tagg to smile, but he said Kings are serious and they hardly smile...
This is on the outside of Henry's residence, the newer part of the palace, leaving the Tutor style and going into the Baroque era with William III. But you know what they say, "if it's not Baroque, don't fix it"!
These frescos are painting in the part of the palace that belonged to William III...honestly so pretty.
Looking out from William III's apartment. Just a small humble garden...no biggie.
Here he is...he was also known as William the Orange. Weird. I'd prefer to go by William III too!
This was his fancy throne, where he would greet visiting guests. I'm wondering if I could get something similar for my bedroom someday, including the feathers.
Fancy chandelier...
Another one of his thrones. It makes you wonder how many thrones does a Orange King really need?
And the most important throne in the palace...complete with cushioned red seat for a royal bum!
After we toured the living quarters of William and Henry we headed back outside and found Anne Boleyn herself starting to get suspicious of her husband and his plot to have her killed. Run Anne! You're married to a nut!
We walked outside to the gardens and enjoyed the beautiful spring flowers and weather...
We looked for the infamous maze that the boys were DYING to do...
Aghhhhh, so pretty! I can't take it!
We found the maze and it was really fun. We really did get lost! The boys loved it. We decided to split up, and of course Thatcher and Todd found the center of the maze first...
They came out and found Tagg, Tate and I and helped us find the center of the maze...
We then headed around back to the expansive beautiful gardens full of manicured trees, gorgeous tulips and other flowers. This garden was beautiful. Absolutely.
Tate was over being in the buggy...he was dying for a shoulder ride.
I love the different little boxes of various colored flowers. Also, all the trees are getting their bright green leaves. I am completely obsessed with spring. Texas has deprived me!!!
We stopped to get some ice cream at this cute little ice cream stand...
Tate loving his treat...
Tagg too...
The backside of the Palace...
Horse and buggy rides around the gardens...
These trees were so cool!
All of us in front of the backside of the palace.
Selfie time!
Candid shot of the 4 T's...
The gardens were so beautiful.
I really think that Heaven must look a lot like an English garden...
Photo bomber...
So there is this vine at the back of the gardens...the largest vine in the world. It used to be full of grapes for the royalty. It is massive!
The vine covered this green house roof...
Loved this pretty picture...
Goodbye beautiful gardens and beautiful crazy tragic Hampton Court!
We stopped for some Fish and Chips on the way home to London. They were okay. I'm hoping to try some better...
It was a great day. We LOVED Hampton Court and I think we will try to go back at least one more time while we are here. The history is so fun to learn and the boys are really eating it up, which is really fun to see. Good Saturday. Now Todd is making me watch The Other Boleyn Girl. Ayyyy. Poor Anne! But you got to watch it if you haven't!
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