Tagged Results

William III and Mary II

England's only joint sovereigns, who transformed Kensington Palace into a royal residence

Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot

Who was the real Guy Fawkes, the man behind the mask?

The story of Hampton Court Palace

Home of Henry VIII and the Tudor dynasty

The Crown Jewels

The history of the Crown Jewels, including the Imperial State Crown - a priceless collection used to crown the kings and queens of England.

The story of Kensington Palace

An elegant retreat for Britain's royal family

The masque

A fabulously extravagant early 17th century court entertainment

Sir Walter Raleigh

This wild spirit found himself caged at the Tower of London

LGBT Royal Histories

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer histories in our palaces

The execution of Charles I

Killing of a 'treasonous' King

• Things to see

The King's Staircase

Discover the intriguing and unexpected characters depicted on the grand entrance to the King's State Apartments.

• Open
• In line with palace opening hours
• Kensington Palace
• Included in palace admission (Members go free)

• Things to see

The Palace Gardens

Walk in the footsteps of royalty in the beautiful Kensington Palace gardens.

• Open

• 10:00 - 16:00. Last entry 15:45.
• Kensington Palace
• Free

• Things to see

The Undercroft

Explore the vaulted drinking den beneath the Banqueting House, which was used by James I and VI for decadent royal parties.

• Closed

• Banqueting House
• Included in palace admission (Members go free)

• Things to see

Rubens ceiling

Marvel at Sir Peter Paul Rubens' ceiling in its original setting of Inigo Jones' spectacular Banqueting House.

• Closed

• Banqueting House
• Included in palace admission (Members go free)

• Things to see

Inigo Jones' architecture

Find out what remains of Whitehall – known as one of the first examples of Palladianism in British architecture.

• Closed

• Banqueting House
• Included in palace admission (Members go free)

• Things to see

Charles I’s execution site

Walk in the footsteps of the condemned King and stand on the spot of Charles I's execution, just outside Banqueting House.

• Closed

• Banqueting House
• Included in palace admission (Members go free)

• Things to see

Banqueting Hall

Experience James I and VI's breathtaking Banqueting Hall, created in 1622 as a venue for extravagant Jacobean entertainments.

• Closed

• Banqueting House
• Included in palace admission (Members go free)

• Things to see

Art and sculpture

See images of James I and VI and Charles I among the important collection of art and sculpture at Banqueting House.

• Closed

• Banqueting House
• Included in palace admission (Members go free)

• Things to see

Imprisonment at the Tower exhibition

Learn why people ended up as prisoners in the Tower of London, in the very rooms where some of them were held.

• Open
• Tower of London
• Included in palace admission (Members go free)

Kings and Queens of England and Britain

See the list of kings and queens who reigned as monarchs of England and Britain from the Normans (1066) through to the Windsors.

George Villiers, First Duke of Buckingham

In the ruthless world of the Stuart court, royal favour was everything. No one knew this better than George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, whose rise to power was built on the love and patronage of James I.

Searching for the Young Black Man in the Portrait of William III, Part 2

The next step in our search was to look at sources and pictures on William III's life before he arrived in England, and his first court, to attempt to discover more about this young man, and why he might have been painted with the King.

Searching for the Young Black Man in the Portrait of William III, Part 1

A young Black man dressed in blue and gold holding a helmet stands beside William III in a portrait that is a focal point of our exhibition: Untold Lives: A Palace at Work. Who was he? Where did he live and when? Why is he in the painting with William III? And how can historians unravel the mystery surrounding him?

Sir Christopher Wren's Hampton Court Palace

Head of Historic Buildings Daniel Jackson looks at one of Sir Christopher Wren's most famous and problematic projects: the remodelling of Hampton Court Palace.

The death and succession of Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I's death marked the accession of James VI/I to her throne and the emergence of the Stuart dynasty within England. But this was certainly not a foregone conclusion at the time.

The rise and fall of Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset

Historian Gareth Russell picks up the tale of a scandal that no one had foreseen when the inoffensive Robert Carr arrived at James VI's court.

Why we need to stop looking for sex: letters and LGBT+ royal history

'How do you know?' I've been asked this a lot recently when I've been talking about LGBT+ royal history. I'm glad to be asked it, because it gets to the heart of studying LGBT+ identities in the past. In this post, I'd like to talk about the evidence and assumptions, which tell us a lot about sexuality in the past, and today.

Queer Lives at the Tower: The LGBT+ Stories that were almost on the tours

Queer Lives at the Tower, our new LGBT+ tours at the Tower of London are just a couple of weeks away, and the team are rehearsing to deliver a bold and new experience. However, there are some stories that didn’t quite make the cut. I’m going to tell you them here, to see what they tell us about how we work with LGBT+ history.