An English History Lesson

Sunday afternoon (mum's day here), we visited the Hampton Court Palace. It's one of the Historical Royal Palaces. It is situated on the Thames River. Buried beneath the palace are remains of the first known house, built for the Knights Hospitallers of St. John sometime before 1338. This was the centre of a large farm estate originally created to provide funds for crusaders in the Holy Land. In 1494, Giles Daubeney, one of King Henry VII's most senior courtiers, leased Hampton Court.
Thomas Wolsey acquired Hampton Court in 1514. He was the most dominant churchman and politician in the land. He gained enormous power and wealth as Henry VIII's administrator and as a cardinal. He began to turn the manor house into a palace in which to entertain his king and receive foreign dignitaries.
Henry VIII (reigned 1509-1547) lived lavishly. He spent the equivalent of millions of pounds today to create a magnificent setting for himself and the future queens. He was married 6 times at the Palace.
(2 wives he had beheaded). It was interesting to see the kitchens used to prepare the meals (for ~ 600 people at a time). It would have been hard work. Seems like all that king did was eat and drink!
King George II (reigned 1727-1760) and Queen Caroline were the last royals to live in the Palace.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, no British monarch ever lived at the Palace again and for 2 centuries Hampton Court became a village of well-to-do ladies (mostly widows) with royal connections.
We had a great time walking through the gardens. It was beautiful landscape. We even went through the hedge maze. We didn't even get lost! At least, not for very long! Avery, of course, was the line leader. But, I ended up having to take over to get us out of there!
We had a great day at the Palace and imagining ourselves living back in the days of King Henry VIII!  It makes me wish I would have paid more attention in history class or better yet if we could have taken field trips to see the history in person!

On a side note, I have completed one driving lesson with no problems. My next lesson is scheduled for today. I'm building up my confidence!  Bruce is in Paris and will return on Thursday.
I hope everyone has a blessed day.