the TUDOR TUTOR
Your cheeky guide to the dynastyArchive for Elizabeth I
Tudor Über-Home: Hatfield House
Image via Wikipedia
It was 451 years ago today that the 42-year-old Mary I died and her half-sister Elizabeth took the reins (or the reign, as the case may be). The young red-haired girl had been living at Hatfield House on-and-off for most of her life, and got the big news on the morning of 17 November 1558.
She’d been chilling under a lovely oak tree on the property when gentlemen from the court came galloping along on their horses to deliver this life-changing announcement. Her response? “This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wondrous in our eyes!” (Kind of more eloquent than “Yes, We Can!”)
This gorgeous house is in the county of Hertfordshire (Herts, for short), in the southeast of England just above London. It has an extensive maze garden, a restaurant, a gift shop, and reportedly a few ghosts as well. It’s currently closed for tours for the winter, but will reopen in 2010 from April to September.
UK schools can take their students to Hatfield for an educational Living History program, details here! (PDF file)
Tudor Ghost-du-Jour: Elizabeth I
Image via Wikipedia
Elizabeth I was a very busy lady back in the day! Dodging suitors, offing Catholics, and bringing down the Spanish Armada can really take it out of a girl, so you’d think she’d want to rest in peace these hundreds of years since her death.
Nothin’ doing. She’s reportedly still among us. Several of her old haunts are now her current…well, haunts. When the Bubonic plague raced through London in 1563, Elizabeth and her court made for Windsor Castle. Visitors from London were not welcome; in fact, Liz called for a quickie gallows set-up at Windsor and executed them. Nice. Anyway, she’s the visitor these days (often in the Royal Library section or at the window in the Dean’s Cloister), always decked out in a black lace shawl and gown.
When young Elizabeth got word that she was the new queen of England, she’d been staying at her childhood home, Hatfield House. She doesn’t seem to have gotten word that she’s dead because she’s been seen hanging around Hatfield.
As queen, her favorite home was Richmond Palace and it was also there where she breathed her last. Much of the palace is gone today, but busy Liz has been spotted in the surviving gateway. Who says you can’t go home?
