A Joust at Henry VIII's Hampton Court Palace

Friday, June 3

The plan for this day was to travel to Hampton Court Palace, a royal residence outside of London to the southwest.

Hampton Court is most well-known for being one of the main residences of 16th century king, Henry VIII -- the famous one who had six wives. All of his wives visited this palace! (Henry VIII is Elizabeth I's father. Just to give a little more context on him.) The palace was utilized thereafter by many other kings and queens, but Queen Victoria opened it to the public in 1838.

Henry VIII

Hampton Court was another very quick stop that we made on the tour we took in 2010. We only saw the outside of it, so you can't even really count that as a visit.

It was about a 45 minute train journey from London with one change, so it was pretty uncomplicated. I arrived there at about 10:15 am -- just enough time to gain my bearings and walk to the Jubilee Joust.

Entrance to Hampton Court Palace

I had researched Hampton Court well before the trip and saw that they were doing a few jousts throughout June, so purposely planned to visit on this day because of the jousting event! I didn't know what to expect and honestly thought it would be pretty tame, but I was pleasantly surprised by how authentic it seemed. It was almost all kids and their parents, and then there was me -- a 37 year old lone person. Classic Sara.

First, they introduced the knights and their horses. We were encouraged to pick a color of knight and root them on. I picked the red knight mostly because he looked very official. There were also squires and a few more royal looking characters, all decked out in 16th century garb.

They hopped pretty quickly into the jousting. It was an actual competition with points and they explained the different ways you could earn points -- things like where you hit, if the lance splintered or not.

I was just very impressed by the caliber of the animals and humans. The horses are highly trained and I think some of these knights just do this professionally as their real job? Pretty cool.

Events like this are really fun for me because I feel like I'm participating in something exclusive and special and tied to English heritage and not at all American. And I like that feeling.

After the joust, I made a beeline for the café for lunch. I figured everyone else would be headed there too, so I powerwalked in order to be first in line. I got a chicken caesar wrap, some crisps (chips), and a mocha. The line was long when I left, so my strategy was a good one!

I then just explored the palace at my leisure. There is much to see. Here is a photo dump. So many opulent rooms and gardens.

I could stand inside this fireplace.

One of three courtyards

I want dis

Yowch!

One of the many kitchen fireplaces

They were setting up for an event, so unfortunately I couldn't get too close to the main entrance for a photo

The wildflowers planted for the Queen's Jubilee were so beautiful in the front of the palace

I traveled back into London and had dinner at Cask Pub & Kitchen, which was visible from my AirBnB and, therefore, the most convenient. It offered all sorts of brews and burgers. I sat in a sunny corner booth and enjoyed watching the patrons and even spoke for a moment to a couple who had American accents; I can't remember where they were from. The woman seemed flabbergasted that I was alone. I do enjoy making people feel flabbergasted that I'm alone. 😊

I got the "heat" burger and a London Black beer. The burger was buffalo flavor and the beer wasn't as strong as I thought and was actually quite tasty with coffee/chocolate notes in it. I am not a beer drinker at all (but when in England, do as the English do...) and I was a little worried by the hue, but I really liked this one! I think I extra-splurged and dipped my fries in mayo -- a quite Dutch thing to do that I learned from my friend Joyce in the Netherlands. Sounds kinda gross, but don't knock it til you've tried it!

The evening of this day had another event outside of Buckingham Palace for the Queen's Jubilee -- the Platinum Party at the Palace. I think it was a concert. (Perhaps Ed Sheeran was involved? Elton John? That sounds right.) The public could buy tickets to be near the stage, but I think it also was just open attendance with standing room along the Mall. I hadn't planned to attend any other events for the Jubilee, but after seeing coverage for them, I wish I had. Oh well. I still had a great day at Hampton Court Palace!