Travel: come ye to Hampton Court

Hampton Court Palace, the favourite of kings and courtiers, remains well worth a visit today, says Matthew Partridge

Mitre Hampton Court
The Mitre Hampton Court combines traditional British hospitality with modern flair
(Image credit: © The Mitre)

“Why come ye not to court?” asked 16th-century poet John Skelton, who noted that, while the King’s court “should have the excellence”, Hampton Court, then owned by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, “hath the pre-eminence.” So it’s perhaps little surprise that Wolsey was in due course “persuaded” to hand it over to Henry VIII.

Today, you can take a tour of the former royal palace, encompassing both the original Tudor buildings (including the kitchens), and Christopher Wren’s baroque wing that was commissioned by William and Mary. You can also see the gardens where William of Orange met his nemesis in the form of a mole, who would become famous as the “little gentleman in velvet” whose mound was the cause of his downfall and eventual death while horse riding.

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Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri