The tour was officially over yesterday after the tea, however since Alison was gone so much of the trip they added a free day at Hampton Court. Siobhan who we met on day one and made most of our arrangements for the tour works at Hampton Court and she and Alison gave us a tour of the palace in the morning.

It was the first time we had to negotiate our own transportation. There was a large group going and we tried to plan a bus but that turned out to be more hassle than it was worth. Some of us took ubers but a few of ventured out for the train. It wasn’t that far of a walk and the train ride was only 30 minutes so not a bad option.

The walk to the train station went well, we all were able to get tickets (some had more difficulties than others not sure why the ticket machines didn’t work for everybody but we had plenty of time so no worries) and we all arrived on time to start our tour.

Val and I had been to Hampton Court before some 25 years ago back when I was in college but we learned a bit more this time. All I remember from the earlier trip was getting lost in the maze so no problems with a repeat.

Cardinal Wolsey built Hampton Court but soon lost it to Henry VIII. It appears Henry had the same issue with palaces that he did with women. If he saw one he liked he just took it. At least he didn’t have to destroy his other palaces each time he acquired a new one. They told us how many he obtained during his reign but I can’t remember. It was a lot but not as many as Elizabeth I (of course she did have quite a few years on him so we won’t hold it against her).

Henry added on and remodeled the palace during Anne Boleyn’s heyday. Like other places we visited there was an attempt to remove all references of her after her death but like always they missed a few. I guess if they didn’t stamp everything with their banners and coats of arms it would be easier to block someone out. But if you put your symbol or name on every door, every place two points come together on the ceiling and anywhere else you can think of then of course you will miss removing a few. Little did they know 500 years later people would spend hours looking for references to Anne Boleyn.

The highlight of the Palace is the ceiling in the chapel. Unlike some of the other chapels we have toured this one actually is what we would think of as a chapel. It was just part of the Palace not huge but did cover two floors. The ceiling is the best surviving example of a Tudor painted ceiling. It is a dark blue with gold. All the woodwork is gold and ornate. Since you view it from the second floor you got a nice view. No photos I tried to copy some from online but it didn’t work.

We also saw a remake of Henry VIII’s crown. Cromwell had the crown melted down after they had overthrown the monarch and beheaded Charles I. There were several paintings of the crown and copious notes from the period detailing the stones so a replica was made and is on display in the chapel. It is more fussy than the current crown with purple velvet and multiple types of gems.

Alison led us through the rest of the Tudor portion of the Palace (William and Mary added a wing and intended to remodel all of the Tudor wing but they caught up in something else and their son and heir hated them and the palace so it fell out of favor and was left unused for a few centuries.) she explained some of the art work and the organization of the house what happened in each room and stuff like that. But having seen Windsor and it’s chapel yesterday this one fell a little flat. However that soon changed.

Earlier in the trip we had a guest historian who had found the cloth that she suspects and is trying to prove is part of one of Elizabeth’s gown. Well she works at Hampton Court and Siobhan arranged for her to show us the actual fabric.

Hampton Court is also the home to the royal trust which is a non-profit whose responsible for maintaining the royal palaces that are no longer used as residences for the monarchs and maintain artifacts including clothing. They also run Kensington Palace and put on the collection of Diana’s clothes.

Anyway they have a conservation facility at the palace that holds their treasures that are not currently on display or in various stages of conservation. So we got to go back behind the scenes to see the fabric laying on a work table and meet the women doing the work. She had taken the back off and displayed it so we could see all the colors that had been protected by the linen backing. What originally looked like muted fall colors were actually bright vibrant flowers. She explained how she painstakingly cut off all the backings by snipping each thread which she surprisingly kept in a plastic bag. She also kept all the linen squares that had been used to back it. It was exciting to see the actually piece.

She also showed us a short swing walking coat of Queen Victoria’s she wore in her early days with Prince Albert. Someone else was working on a pair of baby shoes and socks from one of Victoria’s children for a display at Kensington. Sitting to the side was a box full of shoes from Victoria’s children.

We also saw a dress of Diana’s that they were trying to remove a tea stain. She wore the dress on one of her early tours to New Zealand and there are several photos of her giving the Maori greeting in the dress (rubbing noses). So they want to be able to display it. They said if the tea stain was hers they would just leave it but back in her early days she gave away her dresses and the new owner spilled the tea. So they are trying to clean it.

We also saw a hat that are trying to connect to Henry VIII. It is a recent acquisition to the collection so they have just gotten started. The family can trace it back to their relative who was responsible for Henry’s clothes and they claim he retrieved it when Henry through it in the air in celebration of a victory and then was allowed to keep it. By today’s standards it looks much too feminine but they are sure it was a gentleman’s hat. They have tested the silk and the dyes test out to the right age and it does have a bit of silver thread so they think it must be royal but they haven’t found any mention in the records of his clothing purchases. They are still looking so who knows I might have been mere inches away from something Henry VIII and Elizabeth once wore.

Unlike the chapel we could take pictures here so you can see what I am talking about as far as the hat being feminine and the colors being much better on the backside of the cloth.

The afternoon Val and I had signed up for the “real” tennis lessons on the royal courts. We tried to back out but I am glad we didn’t. Seems tennis originated in the streets and the walls and awnings were a way of measuring points. As the game progressed courts were built but they still had the slopes sides to mimic the awnings. Our guide had run the royal court for years and was a champion of the sport in the 80s and 90s. She was very excited and really wanted us to play.

I absolutely stunk. I couldn’t hit the ball if I held it front of my racket. She had to spend time giving me some remedial lessons but I really never improved.

Anyway the sport is scored like today’s tennis but there were some crazy rules like beating the chase(and yes that is where that statement came from) and if you didn’t you lost your serve. So if they returned service regardless of whether you kept the volley going they had set the chase on what ever line closest to their original return. There were six lines numbered one through four and then door and window in reference to the original street courts. When the serving team lost a point the teams switched sides and the receivers now served (only one side of the court was set with all the slopes for returning service). The new receiving team had to hit the first serve back farther than the chase (where the original receivers hit their return volley) if they did you switched sides again and the original servers got their service back. If you didn’t then the other team kept service for the end of that set and kept it for the next set. If you’re not still following that’s okay because it was a confusing mess.

My team was horrible but Val’s wasn’t much better. They did hit two serves back so they had the serve through most of the game and easily one. I hit the ball only once and it didn’t go over the net. Oh well tennis just isn’t my sport. But I still played real tennis on a court where Kings and royals have played for centuries. It was a nice end to our Tudor tour.

The train ride back was not that eventful and all we had left to do was pack. Val had started the night before with the new suitcase she bought at TK Maxx (and yes in England it is TK and not TJ). I still had most of mine to do.

Lunch was included in our day but we decided we were a little hungry or more bored and the room was hot so we headed out for dinner. I never thought I would say this but I was tired of fish and chips and really wanted some american French fries (since texmex wasn’t an option) so we headed out to five guys for burgers and fries. I am embarrassed to say our last meal in England was an American hamburger chain but at least it wasn’t McDonald’s. By the way it was delicious. After a bunch of fancy food it was nice to just have a greasy burger and fries.

I am sad that my trip is over and we have to head home. I wish I had one more day in London to just wander the streets. Next time I will plan better.