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Historic Royal Palaces blog

Insights and behind the scenes from our palaces

How was the Tower saved from the Great Fire of London?

02 September 2025

The Great Fire of London is the most famous blaze in London's history. Here, Curator Charles Farris explores the Tower of London’s role in this terrible and famous event. 

Life, death and worship in the Tower of London, Part II

21 July 2025

In the second post of a two-part series, Curator of Historic Buildings Alfred Hawkins explores what the major excavation at the Tower of London in 2025 might tell us about the chapel's history.

Life, death and worship in the Tower of London, Part I

21 July 2025

Curator of Historic Buildings Alfred Hawkins explains the results of continued analysis of a 2019 excavation at the Tower of London, and what they can tell us about the Tower community.

Triumph and tragedy: Thomas Cromwell's legacy at the Tower of London

06 December 2024

For Thomas Cromwell, hero of Wolf Hall, the Tower of London would be the scene of the start of his career and the end of his life.

Thomas Cromwell's fateful match-making

29 November 2024

Tracy Borman explores the real history behind Thomas Cromwell's downfall, which forms the dramatic conclusion to Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light.

Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford: The Most Hated Woman in Tudor England?

01 November 2024

Tracy Borman investigates whether Jane Boleyn, widow of George Boleyn, deserves her notorious reputation, or whether the hostile accounts of her a product of Elizabeth I's later attempts to rehabilitate her mother.

The Jewel House Keeper's Ghost

31 October 2024

Curator Alden Gregory explores one of the many ghost stories associated with the palaces in our care: the Tower of London's Phantom Bear.

The Extraordinary Life and Death of Lady Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury

25 October 2024

Lady Margaret Pole spent her life serving the Tudors. But in 1541, she was led to her execution at the Tower of London on the orders of Henry VIII.

'May I Go Home?': Lady Jane Grey's First Moments as a Tower Prisoner

11 October 2024

Lady Jane Grey's biographer, Dr Nicola Tallis unpicks the moment that Jane learned of her deposition and was forced to come to terms with her fall from Queen to Tower prisoner.