Insights and behind the scenes from our palaces
Using Heritage Science to Conserve Queen Caroline's State Bed
13 September 2024
Work on Queen Caroline’s much-loved State bed, which we care for on behalf of the Royal Collection Trust, continues at Hampton Court Palace and our attentions are now drawn to protecting the feet of this priceless historic object.
Introducing Queen Anne's Throne Canopy Conservation
14 July 2016
Welcome to our Queen Anne's Throne Canopy Conservation blog where we will be regularly sharing progress on the conservation and redisplay of our new acquisition.
Whitehall Palace: Anne Boleyn's Favourite Residence
01 June 2016
On 1 June 1533 Anne Boleyn was crowned queen at Westminster Abbey. Anne processed from the Tower of London in a litter of white cloth of gold and wore fur trimmed purple robes on the day she finally became Henry VIII’s queen.
A Tudor wall under the White Tower
25 February 2016
Hundreds of years of history mean that simple building work at the Tower of London is never straight forward. Sometimes we don’t find very much, but during recent renovations to the White Tower shop we came across something we didn’t expect.
Leonora Cohen's Suffrage protest at the Tower of London
01 February 2016
Walking to the Tower of London from the underground station with an iron bar hidden beneath her coat, the Suffragette Leonora Cohen gained access to the Crown Jewels with a plan to protest.
Hampton Court Palace as a Victorian art gallery
15 January 2016
This little watercolour, painted by an unknown artist in the 1850s, is a revealing glimpse of what it was like to visit Hampton Court Palace in the 19th century.
Objects Unwrapped: A 1930s Christmas Card
18 December 2015
This is certainly not the most festive card you are likely to receive – the front cover for example shows the seal of the Tower of London along with its postcode! It was sent from Jack Burnard to L.V. Lane, a carpenter and joiner, working at the Tower of London from 1935 to 1939.
The Lost Tiltyard Tower at Hampton Court Palace
15 December 2015
Archaeologists at Hampton Court Palace have uncovered the remains of one of the palace’s famous five lost Tiltyard Towers. The discovery of this green-glazed tile floor has solved a three-hundred-year-old mystery.
Objects Unwrapped: A 13th-Century Condiment dish
15 December 2015
This small green-glazed ceramic dish was found during excavations near the Middle Tower at the Tower of London in the 1930s. It dates from the late 13th century and was possibly made at a pottery workshop in Kingston, just down the river from Hampton Court Palace.
Secrets From Our Stores: Late Night Cocoa
14 December 2015
The story of a cocoa tin that was hidden by workmen in the early 20th century, only to be uncovered by others almost 80 years later.