Jousting at Hampton Court Palace

Daniel and I met with Tricia Salway (girl from Wagga/Kooringal high- now living in london) and we went to Hampton Court Palace, to see some jousting displays. Hampton Court Palace is in South West London, and was the Tudor Palace of Henry VIII. It has been well preserved and is still set up in its original form. It still has some original furniture. It was also a Palace for William III and Mary II King and Queen of England, who were responsible for a lot of extensions to the palace and its glorious gardens! Of course, because Henry VIII is such a famous king, it made this palace so much more interesting.
The Palace itself was used for many lavish parties and it was great to imagine being there in the 1500's.

Because this day was a special day, they had a wardrobe full of costumes for people to dress up in. they were all gone when we got there. (so disappointed...) There were also people dressed in character, including a person as Henry VIII and his second wife Anne Boleyn. At different times throughout the day they would enact scenes, as a build up to the final jousting tournament. We saw them act out when Henry's men were punishing the Queen's musician, making her not happy with them or her husband. By the time the joust was to happen, Henry was having to prove to her how much he loved her by challening a mystery knight.

The joust was pretty funny, no bloodshed or anything like that. For such a big build up it was a bit of a let down. Unfortunately we had a real good place to watch it until a heap of annoying people with cameras decided to push in front of us and ruin our view.


The gardens are also very impressive. They are so beautifully manicured and so large. There was also a maze, the olsest in the UK. They also have the oldest grape vine in the world. It is called the 'great vine' and dates back to 1768.