The new exhibition at the Tower of London called Fit for a King is a real innovation in it's presentation. There are suits of Henry VIII's armour in all their magnificence on display as well as other outfits and uniforms of other Kings of England. The Armours were made for Henry to show off and to dazzle the people of course and you can see how later in life was a very portly gentleman to say it kindly, and complete with the Cod piece too.
Now the real innovation is the presentation of the the component parts of the suits of armour alongside in a frame like they were pieces of a giant plastic model. Those of you who may remember as a 10 year old trying to glue together a plastic model boat or airplane will know what it will look like. Then in between the giant model and the real suit of armour is a TV screen that shows the pieces of the model actually being taken from the frame and put together to form the whole. It is a great trick and shows how the armour fits together bit by bit.
A real joy to watch and only takes a couple of minutes to go through the loop, of course the real suit would have taken many people to assist and much longer to fit on the King.
www.tudorhistorytours.com
Thursday, 27 May 2010
Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Wine flows at the Palace
Wine flows in the courtyard at Hampton Court Palace now. Historic Royal Palaces have recreated the wine fountain seen on the famous painting of the Field of Cloth of Gold where Henry VIII meets with the King of France.
The edifice is huge and is complete with some figures that are drunk as shown in the painting too, and lots of tourist get to have their photo in the same position. For a small fee (over 18's only) you can have a cup of wine from the fountain, we didn't get to try it as it wasn't open till after we left, but next time we'll stay longer and sample the wine.
Hampton Court Palace has much to recommend to the visitor, there are daily plays around the place which are themed but each one different. On the day we were there Henry was getting married to Catherine Parr, you could watch Catherine chose her wedding dress or Henry having his last batchelor drink with some of his mates, and you had the chance to dress in either red or green robes to walk about the place.
The Costumes worn by the participants were magnificent and gave plenty of time to take photos.
www.tudorhistorytours.com
The edifice is huge and is complete with some figures that are drunk as shown in the painting too, and lots of tourist get to have their photo in the same position. For a small fee (over 18's only) you can have a cup of wine from the fountain, we didn't get to try it as it wasn't open till after we left, but next time we'll stay longer and sample the wine.
Hampton Court Palace has much to recommend to the visitor, there are daily plays around the place which are themed but each one different. On the day we were there Henry was getting married to Catherine Parr, you could watch Catherine chose her wedding dress or Henry having his last batchelor drink with some of his mates, and you had the chance to dress in either red or green robes to walk about the place.
The Costumes worn by the participants were magnificent and gave plenty of time to take photos.
www.tudorhistorytours.com
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