Hampton Court: Behind Closed Doors

Dec 15, 2020

Go behind the scenes of preparations for Christmas at the palace, from cooking traditional Tudor recipes to harvesting mistletoe from the gardens. Joint Chief Curator Tracy Borman also explores royal Christmas traditions through the ages, including gifts from the past.

Jul 22, 2021

We discover the last surviving initials of Henry and his wife Anne Boleyn after he tried to have every mark of her ripped from the palace, track down the elusive royal deer in the vast parklands, and meet George, the first rare breed Shire horse foal to be born at Hampton Court in a generation.

Jul 29, 2021

Hampton Court's hedge maze gets a trim, a process that takes three weeks; chief curator Tracy Borman visits Father Anthony, chaplain of Hampton Court's Chapel Royal, who has found a prayer book on eBay that could have been used by Elizabeth I's priest; and warder Errol takes a look round the Haunted Gallery.

Jun 18, 2022

Chief curator Tracy Borman investigates a claim by a Tudor antiques specialist to have acquired an item once owned by Anne Boleyn; the estate's gardeners harvest grapes from Queen Victoria's favourite vine; as Halloween approaches, Hampton Court's spectral residents get a chance to shine.

Jun 25, 2022

It's winter, and head gardener Graham Dillamore is hard at work preparing 120,000 bulbs for what should be the biggest tulip festival in Britain; Tracy Borman uncovers the story of Henry VIII's secret son, Henry FitzRoy, who was the result of the king's affair with Bessie Blount.

Jul 2, 2022

Staff get ready for the biggest Remembrance Day memorial in the palace's history, which involves installing 125 steel silhouettes of soldiers in the grounds; conservators work to keep the moths away from a collection of tapestries dating back to Henry VIII.