Day 3: Hampton Court Palace Day and meeting Tracy Borman | Behind the Scenes
The Anne Boleyn Tour, May 2025
Hello fellow history lover!
Today on ‘The Anne Boleyn Tour’;
Hampton Court Palace
Tracy Borman OBE
Sarah Slater - Hampton Court Palace Guide
Dinner in our private suite
Images from the day, including some of the room in which Jane Seymour gave birth, and the rooms used by Princess Mary (future Mary I) are below for paid subscribers, or you can head over to Patreon.com/BritishHistory. These rooms are not open to the public and so we were very fortunate to get to see them.
We began the day by being welcomed to Hampton Court Palace by Tracy Borman, Chief Historian at Historic Royal Palaces, who came to join us as we entered the Palace. Tracy delivered a brand new talk to our group, ‘Behind the Scenes at HRP’ and she had booked ‘Apartment 33’ for the talk. The simple and descriptive name ‘Apartment 33’, given when it was a grace & favour apartment, belies its significance, for this is where Queen Jane Seymour gave birth to the future Edward VI, and died a few days later. (Tracy’s talk will be available in my Patreon later this year).
Following Tracy’s talk she graciously signed books and had photos taken with our guests. The group then had a short break to get lunch before we joined back up for a guided tour by Hampton Court Palace expert, Sarah Slater. The group had a pleasant surprise when, for the second time today, they were led into another part of the palace not open to the general public, to see the rooms once occupied by Princess Mary.
After a full but thoroughly enjoyable day we headed back to Hever Castle to relax on our private lawns before enjoying our evening meal in the Tudor dining suite!
Tomorrow we head to the Tower of London on the 489th anniversary of Anne Boleyn’s execution.
I am writing an article each day of the tour, with images included for paid Substack subscribers (and Patreon member over at Patreon.com/BritishHistory) about where we have been and what we have been doing! You can also follow along on Instagram @British_history_tours
Join me and Gareth Russell on The Anne Boleyn Tour in 2026!
You can join in yourself on The Anne Boleyn Tour in 2026! The tour dates are 18th - 22nd May 2026.
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