So this weekend I took a trip back in time to visit the majestic Hampton Court Palace.
The last time I visited the Tudor/Baroque palace was a school trip over fifteen years ago where I unfortunately, much to my dismay, missed out on venturing around the maze. So many years later I was back and looking forward to attempting to reach the centre of the maze and of course walking back in time.
Fortunately and much to the delight of my picnic fanatic friend Mandy, our trip coincided with the palaces Big Picnic event. Not only could you pitch up on the lawn with your own picnic, but the palace put on events to celebrate the Bank Holiday weekend. On stage you could watch demonstrations by a 16th century scientist who almost blew up his equipment or see a troupe of actors from RADA bring the Canterbury Tales to life. Is it just me, but isn't the Millers Tale a little too bawdy for young children? I wonder how many awkward conversations took place afterwards with parents trying to explain the sex noises from the actors.
There was even the opportunity to get creative at one of the several stalls and create masks to show a healthy and sick face of a Tudor woman. My poor mask had come down with the Lichtenstein pop art pox and Mandy's appeared to have a severe case of bogeyitus.
Aside from the activities outside we also took advantage of wondering around the palace and the beautiful grounds all with the aid of an audio guide. Apparently working in technology doesn't mean you'll know how to work an audio guide and after a few attempts I gave up and decided to make up my own version of the palaces history. Let's face it, my version will be more colourful and naturally feature me.
Inside the palace you could explore a new exhibition about the secrets of the bedchamber which exposes what really takes in the state bedchamber. It's not all about sleeping, but business, eating, conspiracy and only the most important and influential people would be admitted in to the chamber. My favourite part of the whole exhibition was lying down on a bed to watch a display on the ceiling. If the music had been less dramatic I would quite happily have taken 30 winks as the beds were so comfy. Maybe we should present future campaign proposals in a similar way?
There's one confession I have to make. Every time I visit a stately home I can't help but take a closer observation of the portraits on display. It's not because I'm a die hard fan of Holbein or Gainsborough, but more so that I can find a face that might look like me so that I might stake a claim in the property and maybe a title - Duchess has a nice ring to it. I've been to a lot of old houses, palaces and castles and this is yet to happen.
Was it worth going back for a second time? Most definitely. We conquered the maze, we are now experts in Tudor history or so we believe, we got creative, but most importantly we didn't loose our heads to Henry VIII.
Here's a little tip if you are struggling to remember Henry's wives that I still remember from school!
Divorced - Catherine of Aragon
Beheaded - Anne Boleyn
Died - Jane Seymour
Divorced - Anne of Cleves
Beheaded - Catherine Howard
Survived - Catherine Parr
