Hampton Court, England

The making of…

I vividly remember sketching King Henry VIII’s portrait at school—mostly out of boredom. It was just a brief overview of European monarchs at my Mexican school, but his image stuck with me for weeks. The idea that a king would break with the almighty Church just to marry a woman he’d soon grow tired of—and eventually have executed—was both shocking and unforgettable. The sheer brutality of it all lingered.

Hampton Court Palace was home to twelve monarchs, but none left a mark quite like Henry VIII. His presence looms so large in our collective imagination that the entire palace seems inseparable from his legacy.

The palace itself is iconic—grand, labyrinthine, and lavish. It was used across the Tudor, Stuart, and Georgian eras, from 1485 to 1830. It’s a place that has been made and remade, layer upon layer, each room echoing with stories of power, scandal, and transformation.

Quick Facts:

  • Originally constructed in 1515 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. Once he fell out of the king’s favor, he tried to regain Henry VIII’s trust by gifting him his palace, to no avail.

  • The art collection is outstanding, with works from Rembrandt, Titian, Hans Holbein the Younger, Canaletto, Van Dyck and Caravaggio.

  • One of the most impressive features of the palace are the kitchens, which are the largest surviving 16th century ones in Europe. They could feet 600 people during the king’s extravagant feasts.

  • The palace is unique in showcasing both Tudor red-brick Gothic and Baroque style, thanks to William and Mary’s extensive 17th-century renovations by Sir Christopher Wren.

  • More facts coming soon!

 

This magnificent palace is famous for its connection to Henry VIII, who transformed it from a private residence into a royal palace in 1529. Nearly 150 years later, the legendary architect Sir Christopher Wren was tasked with expanding the Tudor palace, adding a Baroque-style extension for William and Mary.


Less well-known is the palace’s later history. After serving as the residence of kings and queens, it fell out of favor in the 1730s and became a “grace-and-favor” home—where people who had served the crown could live rent-free. Dickens even mentions it in Little Dorrit, with one character mentioning their mother lives “in a most primitive manner down in that dreary red-brick dungeon at Hampton Court.”


Among its residents were aristocratic widows of generals or diplomats, and even scientists like Michael Faraday, all of whom were honored for their past services. At its peak, there was a 20-year waiting list for the 70 apartments. Remarkably, as late as 2005, there were still three residents living in the palace.

 

Get a little piece of England

Here are some of the formats that I’ve made this image into.

The Original

Reproduction

Sticker

Dive a little deeper

Books set in England

  • Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

  • The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

  • The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

  • Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

  • Any Jane Austen book

Books about England

  • The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer

  • London by Peter Ackroyd

  • The Hidden Lives of Tudor Women by Elizabeth Norton

  • Steeple Chasing by Peter Ross

  • Unruly by David Mitchell

English Artists

  • J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) Romantic painter

  • Matthew Rice (contemporary) architecture illustrator

  • Julia Margaret Cameron (1815–1879) Victorian photographer

  • Vanessa Bell (1879–1961) post-impressionist / early modern

  • Adam Dant (contemporary) map illustrator