Life at Hampton Court Palace

Once I lived in a castle – not for very long, but I did get to experience what royalty must feel like. We were with friends who travel frequently in England and they made the stay at Hampton Court Palace possible for us. The Palace is now preserved as a National Treasure and a limited number of tourists are allowed to stay there.

Approaching the Palace was breath-taking. After crossing a moat we walked up a long drive surrounded by formal gardens and shaped trees. I felt like a Princess in a Fairy tale even through I arrived on foot with a backpack rather than in a golden carriage..

The Palace had many attached wings. Walking down narrow halls surrounded on all sides by high stone walls we arrived at the wing where we were staying. Though having the unromantic name of Fish Court, the accommodations were fabulous. Tea was set out and a vase of yellow roses was on the table to greet us. The accommodations in the wing were spacious with fresh yellow roses in every room, engravings on the walls, soft sofas and interesting books.

The first night (around 4 a.m.) there was a sudden blast of music and strange thumping. A ghost? It must have been a friendly one as we had no further trouble. We decided he was also just welcoming us.

During our stay we explored as much of the castle as we could. Investigating other halls we saw beautiful tapestries woven with silver and gold threads , as well as life-size portraits of Kings and Queens who once strolled here. Everything was done to impress.

Living in Fish Court we were near the Great Kitchen. In the days of knights and kings it was in this room that cooking was done for over 600 people daily. This number was not unusual for an entourage surrounding a king. Fish was served every Friday and Wednesday and surprisingly beavers and geese were also considered “fish”.

My favorite location was the gardens. There were over 20 different gardens as well as a greenhouse and an orangerie. There was one unusual building housing a huge, heavily ladened grape vine that was over a hundred years old and whose twisted branches reached to the ceiling and spread, filling the entire building.

It was fun to daydream of living in such a place. I longed to go back in time and daily stroll among the peacocks and fragrant flower beds.

It was a crude practicality that jarred my daydreams. Bathrooms were a problem for the king with his claque of 600 followers. Bathroom stalls were built, three stories high. Someone was above you and someone below you and the seepage went into the moat. When the moat got full, these ancient rulers solved the problem by just moving on to another castle.