These living quarters became known as 'grace and favour' apartments. The palace gradually fell out of favour under the first Georgian kings, and George III began the custom of granting living space at the palace to old and favoured courtiers and royal servants. A combination of lack of funds and William's loss of interest after his wife's death meant that it was a further 6 years before the king's apartments were finished. Queen Mary oversaw the building project, but when she died five years after taking the throne the project lapsed. They turned to Sir Christopher Wren, the leading architect of the day, to remodel the Tudor palace in a grand baroque style that would rival or even surpass the Versailles Palace in France. Though each monarch left some mark on the palace, it was under the joint reign of William and Mary that Hampton Court underwent the greatest transformation. In January 1604 King James convened the Hampton Court Conference of religious leaders, a conference which was to result in the publication of the King James version of the Bible a decade later. Queen Anne fell from grace before her quarters at Hampton Court were complete, and the first queen to use them was Jane Seymour, Henry's third wife.Ĭhristmas 1603 saw the new monarch, James I, entertained by an acting troupe called The King's Men, who numbered among their members a certain William Shakespeare, actor and playwright. Henry did not overlook recreation, and built a real tennis court and a pair of bowling alleys. Henry also built a range of privy (private) quarters for himself, which were served by hot and cold running water, an unheard of luxury for the time. To serve the hall required large new royal kitchens.
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Henry lavished even more money on Hampton Court, creating an ornate royal palace with quarters for his new queen, Anne Boleyn, royal council chambers, and a glorious great hall to serve as the heart of palace life.
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He was arrested and charged with treason but died before he could be put on trial, and Hampton Court passed into Henry's hands. In 1525 Wolsey officially presented Hampton Court to the king, though he continued to live there and add further embellishments to the jumble of buildings, including a chapel and cloister walk for formal processions.īut Wolsey's high flying career came to an abrupt end when he was unable to procure Henry's divorce from his first wife, Katherine of Aragon. The Cardinal's wealth and lavish lifestyle can perhaps be judged by the fact that the palace walls were hung with hundreds of tapestries from the continent, and these were changed every week. Wolsey also built a long gallery overlooking the gardens. Wolsey added a grand new entrance courtyard and chambers to entertain the king and his court, and to maintain a large household in lavish style. In 1514 Thomas Wolsey bought the estate and began to build a grandiose palace, suitable for the most powerful and influential man in the realm after the king himself.