Claire’s photos from The Anne Boleyn Experience 2018
Posted By Claire on July 23, 2018
I finally got a few minutes to myself to go through my photos from this year’s Anne Boleyn Experience Tour and thought that I’d share them here for you to enjoy.
Philippa and I are running the Anne Boleyn Experience again in May 2019 (yay!) and if you want to join us then you can find out more and reserve your place at www.britishhistorytours.com/history-tours/anne-boleyn-2019
If I had to narrow it down and pick my top two favourite things about this tour (I have so many favourite things!), I’d have to say:
- Staying at Hever Castle – So many ‘pinch me’ moments for an Anne Boleyn fan like me!
- ‘Talking Tudor’ to people who are just as obsessed with Tudor history as I am. To actually see their eyes light up with excitement rather than glaze over with boredom is a beautiful thing.
I hope you enjoy these photos!
Day 1 – Off to Hever Castle
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- On the coach to Hever
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- Dinner in the Astor Wing
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- Gareth Russell talking about Anne Boleyn
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- Me and the wonderful Gareth Russell
Day 2 – Hever Castle exterior and the gardens
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- The Hever swans and cygnets
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- Hever Castle
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- A view of the Astor Wing
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- Hever Castle
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- Hever Castle gardens
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- Looking back at the castle
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- Hever Castle gardens
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- Hever Castle gardens
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- Hever Castle gardens
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- Hever Castle gardens
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- The loggia terrace
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- The lake from the loggia
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- Map of the grounds
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- Hever Castle gardens
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- Hever Castle gardens
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- Hever Castle gardens
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- Hever Castle gardens
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- Hever Castle
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- Hever Castle gardens
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- Hever Castle
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- Hever Castle
St Peter’s Church, Hever
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- St Peter’s Church, Hever
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- Margaret Cheyne’s brass memorial
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- Thomas Boleyn’s brass memorial
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- Thomas Boleyn’s brass memorial
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- Thomas Boleyn’s brass memorial
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- Brass cross memorial to Henry Boleyn, brother of Anne Boleyn
Talk from Bess Chilver on Tudor Costume
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- Bess
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- Bess’s husband, Edmund gets dressed as Henry VIII
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- Katie being dressed as a Tudor lady (Henry VIII’s reign)
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- Rebecca being dressed in an Elizabethan costume
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- Even Tudor ladies need to check their social media
Private evening tour of Hever Castle<
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- A dip before the tour in the private pool
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- We meet up in the music room
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- In the music room
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- Henry VIII welcomes us
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- Henry and Anne
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- Recognise these windows from “Anne of the Thousand Days”?
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- Inner courtyard
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- Anne Boleyn
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- An unknown woman said to be Mary Boleyn
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- Henry VIII
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- Edward VI
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- Philip II of Spain
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- Inner Hall
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- Inner Hall
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- Henry VII
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- Inner Hall
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- Replica of the clock said to have been given by Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn
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- Inner Hall
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- Elizabeth of Valois
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- Castle dining room
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- Tapestry in dining room
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- Dining room
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- The Henry VIII lock
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- The minstrels’ gallery in the dining room
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- The library
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- The library
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- The morning room
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- Anne Boleyn
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- The Anne Boleyn Bedroom
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- Anne Boleyn’s book of hours
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- Anne Boleyn’s book of hours
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- Tapestry depicting the marriage of Louis XII and Mary Tudor
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- James Butler, the man Anne was due to marry at one time.
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- Anne Boleyn
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- Jane Seymour
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- Anne of Cleves
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- Henry VIII
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- Labelled Catherine Howard, but more likely to be Elizabeth Seymour (Cromwell)
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- Labelled Catherine Parr but more likely to be Catherine of Aragon
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- Prince Arthur and Henry VII
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- Henry IV
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- Catherine of Aragon
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- The Queen’s Chamber
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- Anne of Cleves
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- Thomas Wyatt
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- Mary I
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- Elizabeth I
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- Elizabeth I
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- Edward VI
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- The Waldegrave Room
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- Henry VIII’s Bedchamber
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- A secret chapel
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- A secret chapel
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- Embroidery
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- Margaret Beaufort
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- Elizabeth of York
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- Henry VIII
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- William Warham
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- The Long Gallery
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- The Long Gallery
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- Cardinal Thomas Wolsey
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- Henry VIII and his six wives
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- Archbishop Thomas Cranmer
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- Pope Clement VII
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- The long gallery
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- A transcript of the “Tower” letter said to have been written by Anne Boleyn
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- Anne Boleyn
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- Sir Thomas More and Bishop Fisher
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- Sir Thomas More
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- The long gallery
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- The long gallery
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- George Boleyn’s signature
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- William Waldorf Astor
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- The Astor Suite
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- John Jacob Astor
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- Display of torture and execution implements
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- Portcullis weights
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- Luckily not our toilet!
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- Lady Catherine Grey and her son, Edward Seymour
Hampton Court Palace
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- The approach to Hampton Court Palace
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- Philippa chatting to Siobhan, our costumed guide
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- Siobhan
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- Clock Court
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- Clock Court
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- Clock Court
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- The Anne Boleyn Experience 2018 group
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- The Anne Boleyn Experience 2018 group
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- Anne Boleyn’s gateway
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- Anne Boleyn’s gateway
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- Anne Boleyn’s gateway
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- The Great Hall
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- The Great Hall
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- The Great Hall
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- The Great Hall
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- The Great Hall
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- The Great Hall
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- The Great Hall
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- The Great Hall
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- Mounted deer antlers in the State Apartments of Henry VIII
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- Henry VIII’s presence chamber
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- Henry VIII’s presence chamber
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- Henry VIII’s presence chamber
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- Ceiling of Henry VIII’s presence chamber
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- Some of the original arms on the ceiling
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- Henry VIII’s presence chamber
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- Jane Seymour
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- Henry VIII
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- Henry VIII
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- Charles V and Francis I
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- The Haunted Gallery
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- Henry VII, Elizabeth of York and Margaret Beaufort
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- The Family of Henry VIII
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- Detail of Princess Mary (Mary I) and Jane the Fool
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- Detail of Prince Edward (Edward VI), Henry VIII and Jane Seymour
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- Princess Detail of Elizabeth (Elizabeth I)
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- Princess Detail of Elizabeth (Elizabeth I)
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- Princess Detail of Elizabeth (Elizabeth I)
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- Edward VI
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- Edward VI
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- Chapel Court Garden with all its heraldic beasts
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- Chapel Court Garden with all its heraldic beasts
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- Chapel Court Garden with all its heraldic beasts
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- Chapel Court Garden with all its heraldic beasts
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- This the nursery block where Edward VI was cared for (middle windows I think!)
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- Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon
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- The Family of King Henry VII (shown with God and St George)
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- Margaret of Austria
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- The embarkation of Henry VIII at Dover to go to the Field of Cloth of Gold
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- Field of Cloth of Gold
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- Detail of Henry VIII
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- Detail
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- A man being sick in the Field of Cloth of Gold painting!
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- Linen fold panelling
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- List of Catherine of Aragon’s babies
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- Fireplace
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- Anne Boleyn
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- Henry VIII
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- Catherine of Aragon
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- The palace
Miscellaneous
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- I was so excited to see my books in Hever Castle bookshop!
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- My colouring book too!
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- This was my favourite breakfast choice – halloumi and avocado on a toasted muffin
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- Pimms o’clock – a quick lunch at the Garden Restaurant, Hever
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- My vegetarian starter one night – yum!
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- One of the desserts I had
If you want to join us on next year’s Anne Boleyn Experience Tour then go to www.britishhistorytours.com/history-tours/anne-boleyn-2019 and reserve your place now.
So, you say you shared SOME of your photos? Thank you so much. This really looks like a lot of fun and I would love to do but just don’t have the time. I will continue to live vicariously through your site and pics.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! The photos are so wonderful! It almost had me feeling like I was there. My dream is to visit Hever the next time I’m in England… I just need to find someone to go with me!a
Thanks, These are awesome! Wow, what a trip!
Thank you s much for posting! Wonderful for those of us who will probably never get there! Anne was my great-great-great cousin. Hampton court is ok but perhaps Jane seymours portrait should not hang in Hever Castle.
Don’t know how much of Hampton Court you’ve explored – but I’ve never heard it described as ‘ok’ before. It’s possibly the most fascinating Tudor delight in the World. Totally agree about Seymour’s portrait. A question: how do you know about your relationship with Anne and by Anne I’m presuming you mean Anne Boleyn? 1. you don’t have ‘great-great-great cousins’, only 1st cousin, 2nd cousin, 1st cousin once removed, etc etc. 2. in an average year there may be 3 – 4 generations maybe 5 if people don’t live all that long, so in 500 years since Anne’s birth there would have been at least 15-20 generations. 3. from my quick researches if you are an extremely distant cousin then you would be an extremely distant cousin of Queen Elizabeth II.
I really enjoyed the pictures. Thank you for sharing them. I was fortunate enough to go to Hampton Court 3 years ago when I was in London. Loved it!!! I’m from the USA.
Thanks so much for sharing, Claire! What a fabulous trip!
It all looks fabulous and reminds me of a trip to Hever I made many years ago, the dummies in the gallery depicting scenes from Anne’s life I recall and thinking how spooky it would be at night, the photo of the replica clock shows the extravagant gifts Henry wooed his sweetheart with, clocks in the 16th c were expensive articles and a rarity so that one must have cost him a fortune, we have Lord Astor to thank for the magnificence of Hever today including the little village he had erected, Anne’s book of hours is exquisite and it’s easy ti imagine her sitting in a window seat reading the pages with an earnest expression on her face, I’m so glad Hever was not left to crumble and decay as with this enchanting building we have a link to Anne and her tragic story, thankyou for sharing the photos with us Claire well done.
Thank you so much
Great to see photos of Hever Castle and also to see that it hasn’t altered since I was last there. Two years ago my whole family (all 9 of us spanning 3 generations) celebrated my husband’s 70th with a long weekend at Hampton Court and these two wonderful buildings vie to be my favourite place on Earth! My love affair with Anne Boleyn goes way back and my wedding gown and headdress in 1973 was based on Anne’s in the Anne of the Thousand Days film. Six years ago our son married at the Layer Marney Tudor Gatehouse and we were entertained by an amazing mediaeval musician who played the lute and the hurdy-gurdy. I’m so pleased that you had such a terrific Tudor time. For those of you interested in language – you will all know that Tudor was a Welsh family name; you may not be aware that in Welsh ‘u’ is pronounced as ‘i’. So the great royals were not Tudors, but TIDIRS!
Wonderful. Beautiful and excellent photographs. Many thanks.
How is everyone coping with the heat? It’s 34 where I am.
Thank you so much for posting! Wonderful pictures! Hever and Hampton Court are on my bucket list!