Book Review: "The Palace"by Gareth Russell (Pt. 1)

This review covers the introduction to chapter 3

You know how much I love books about royal history. No, that doesn't particularly mean I enjoy the monarchy the way it is at the moment. I do however, enjoy how the monarchs were once, even as recent as Queen Elizabeth II, were involved in the political landscape of their country. So, it only makes sense to read a book about one of the most important places in the whole of England - Hampton Court. The Palace covers the 500 years from its building to the modern day, including all the great and worrying things that happened there over this time. It was intriguing.

The book begins with covering why Hampton Court is so important. We are thrust into the past, however it is the recent past - Queen Elizabeth II is to go to a ball there. We revisit the personalities of the time, Princess Margaret and Mary of Teck are mentioned in passing. But one of the things that the author is quite interested in it seems is reputation. There is no doubt that Hampton Court is something of a wonder, but the opinion of the royal family is not so favourable all the time. Even during the coronation days of Queen Elizabeth II, there were many people who didn't think that the royal family were all that important, there were even people who believed they were a drain on society. Of course, it is not as bad as the opinion of them is today, but we can see it bubbling beneath the surface. Hampton Court is directly representative of the royal family and all their pomp. It is a fantastic introduction which definitely shows us that because the royal family had to change their role, so did Hampton Court. It wasn't always like this at all.

We are pushed even further back into the past in the first chapters. Elizabeth of York is the first personality who is covered by the location. Elizabeth of York was seen as almost a saintly figure as her marriage to Henry VII essentially ended the Wars of the Roses. The author makes the location almost seem symbiotic to Elizabeth of York - it was a place that was popular and ornamental, jsut like the Queen Consort. The author also makes a point of stating that this is the story of the people who were important to the Court, not necessarily simply the Court itself. Elizabeth of York is seen as the kind of woman that everyone seemed to love, from here to there. Her beauty and yet, her traditional values seemed to create a character of this location. It changed the landscape of England and brought a rather manipulative message of calm whilst all the dangerous politics went on behind closed doors and away from prying eyes.

Martin Luther is another character that is covered after some time. We get bits and pieces about the Hapsburgs and their importance - especially regarding their Catholic Faith and of course, this leads directly to Martin Luther. Woolsley and Martin Luther are two big personalities during the Tudor Period and the author definitely goes through the political landscape they both changed. We have a definitive look into the way in which Martin Luther established the new faith of Protestantism and the fact that many of his critics (as the author implies) didn't really know what Martin Luther was talking about. There's a lot about Luther's background, including the fact that he was born of working class birth (which may or may not be true). But the idea that he came to solidify a faith that was looked on as a phase of Christianity which would, like many others, die out is something that still leaves me in some state of awe today - even though I myself am not religious.

Anne Boleyn is the next person covered, there were rooms for her set up at Hampton Court. It's 1533 and we get a story about how the King was obsessed with her even though many sources describe her as not being particularly beautiful. The author makes a point of separating Anne Boleyn's myth from the reality of her. Even though many sources state that she introduced Henry VIII to ideas concerning Protestantism, there are no sources to state that she was actually a protestant herself. Hampton Court plays an important role in the life of Anne Boleyn because she was important to it as a location. A place where the Queen Consort lived during pregnancy was essentially a holy place to the people of England. Unfortunately, Anne Boleyn would never live to see it completed as her new home of the Tower of London in 1536 must not have been great for her. The author is clear about this standpoint that we don't know about Anne's affairs and we probably will never know the truth about anything - but what we do know is that the dates of her affairs do not align with her reality. So we can assume there's a degree of falsehood there.

As we move through the next parts of the book, I'm sure we will find out more about the importance of Hampton Court and what it meant to the people who lived there. Though this book is about the Court itself, it is also about the personalities that brought it to life. There are many and the author has definitely done his research.