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Since
Edward the Confessor moved his Palace away from the City of London to
Westminster, to be closer to his Abbey, monarchs have constantly travelled
between their numerous palaces, and to keep pace with them, the Bishops also had
to have similar palaces near their monarchs. A good excuse for lavish living!
These palaces were often near the river Thames, as the most convenient and often only form of transport. The Talk traces some of the lost Palaces of Richmond, Kew, Greenwich, where Henry VIII, Mary Tudor and Elizabeth I were born, Eltham, where Henry VIII spent his childhood, Richmond, one of Queen Elizabeth I’s favourites, as well as the Palaces of Westminster and Whitehall and London’s Parks.
The
Bishops also had to be near the monarchy, after all, they were often more
involved with politics than with religion! The Talk looks at Palaces connected
with these religious men, like Lambeth Palace, the official residence still
today of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Winchester House, Salisbury House and Ely
Place.
The Talk traces some of the well-known and less known palaces of monarchs, bishops, the aristocracy and what became of them. Surprisingly many are still with us. Eltham Palace, for example, was bought by the Courtaulds and they added their own beauty to the site, keeping the Tudor Hall and part of the Palace that would have been very familiar to Henry VIII.
Queen
Victoria changed many of the traditions and the way of life of her subjects, but
particularly for the Royal Family the place of their burial. Until then
sovereigns and their families had been buried in ancient churches or monasteries
with royal associations, many of them are in St George’s Chapel in Windsor
Castle.
For herself and Prince Albert, Queen Victoria preferred to build a special tomb-house in a private royal garden. Her idea did not come as a result of her husband’s premature death, but from her long-thought out plan for her whole large Saxe-Coburg family to be together after death and the Frogmore Mausoleum was born in Windsor Park.