What if Lullingstone’s royal visitor of the past were still in residence….?

The south wing of Lullingstone Castle in Kent is up for sale, as you can see in this article This is how I’ve learned that none other than Henry VII was once a regular visitor. Oh, ye gods. Imagine being a modern-day visitor who has get up on a winter’s night to look for the…

Royal History’s Biggest Fibs

Lucy Worsley, having covered the Wars of the Roses, the “Glorious Revolution” and Britain in India, has returned with a further series. This time, the episodes earlier this year having been about the Reformation, the Armada and Queen Anne, she covers the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, reversing the contemporaneous “spin” on the French Revolution, the…

Visit to Rayleigh and Hadleigh – 20th July 2019

via Visit to Rayleigh and Hadleigh – 20th July 2019

“World’s Greatest Palaces” …

… is another excellent series on the “Yesterday” Channel. Last night I watched the fourth episode, about Kensington, the influence of architects such as Wren and Hawksmoor, the evolution of the building, the creation of the Serpentine Lake and the monarchs and their relatives who have lived there. These include William III and Mary II,…

The real life of the last Stuart

Television history is rarely focused upon Anne (left), except as the final act of the Stuart drama like this or her unfortunate reproductive history in this series. Discussion is, therefore, reduced to the cliches of her fragile family, her weight and her fondness for brandy. She is also omitted from most dramatisations of the time, such…

Films about the monarchy in Britain….

Not that I think William Wallace counts as part of the British monarchy. I don’t believe Old Longshanks would have had any of that! Anyway, to read an article about films concerning various kings and queens, go here. But where’s King Arthur?????

Where our dead kings and queens are buried….

This link is to a brief article about a book about where our kings and queens are buried. I have not read the book, British Royal Tombs by Aiden Dodson, so cannot comment upon it. You’ll find it here on Amazon I believe the image below is taken from the book.

The man who would be King

This is Anthony William Hall, a former Shropshire police inspector. In 1931, he claimed to be the rightful King of England, descended from an illegitimate son of Henry VIII whilst James VI/I had been an impostor, thereby disqualifying all of his descendents down to George V, whom Hall sought to supplant. The chief obstacles to…

Was Henry Vll mean? His funeral – and other – Expenses.

UPDATED POST AT sparkypus.com A Medieval Potpourri https://sparkypus.com/2020/07/19/was-henry-vii-mean-his-funeral-and-other-expenses/ Effigies of Henry Vll and Elizabeth of York by Torrigiano  Henry died on 21 April 1509.  Henry has come down through history as something of a miser, a tightwad.  Whether this is undeserved or otherwise , I do not know,  although his Privy Purse Expenses make very…

JAMES 1st – A ROYAL GOOSEBERRY

UPDATED POST AT https://sparkypus.com/2020/07/28/james-ist-royal-gooseberry-in-the-henry-vii-vault/ Entrance to the tomb of Henry Vll as seen on the opening of the vault in 1869.  Drawing by George Scarf.   How did James I come to be interred in Henry Vll’s vault?  Unfortunately it’s not known,  but we do know how it was discovered to be the case.  In 1868,…