10 Night Holiday

Six Wives of One King

Divorced, beheaded, died.  Divorced, beheaded, survived.  What is the story behind this famous mnemonic?  What of the women themselves?  How did these women live and how did they become the Consort to the most notorious King of England?  Find out on this fully escorted tour to discover the life and loves of Henry VIII's six wives.

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This tour is a fascinating journey in search of all the six wives of Henry VIII.  Over 11 days and 10 nights we visit famous places in London such as Hampton Court Palace and the Tower of London but also some of the hidden places in England that tourists generally do not see.  An exciting addition to our itinerary is an exclusive guided tour of Kimbolton Castle by special appointment to Tudor History Tours as it is not generally open to the public.  This is where Catherine of Aragon died and is said to haunt.  We also visit the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, the family home of Catherine Parr, the divorce settlement houses of Anne of Cleeves and see the only authenticated image of Catherine Howard at Kings College Chapel, Cambridge.  Our tour takes you to the final resting place of all six wives.  Some are interred in isolation and disgrace, others in splendour and in the company of Henry VIII.

The tour commences at midday on day one and we take you through the glorious English countryside in search of the six wives.  The maximum journey times between venues or stops is approximately 90 minutes and so you will have plenty of time to explore and relive the life and times of the six wives with your enthusiastic guide.  Each tour starts and finishes in London.  Transport will be available to take you back to Heathrow airport or a mainline London railway station. 

As with all our tours, the hotels at which we stay are specially chosen for their historic importance, character and charm.  Typically they have low oak beamed ceilings, inglenook fireplaces and some even allegedly have ghosts.  Some of the hotels have feature rooms with four poster beds which can be chosen as an addition to the standard cost.  The tour cost includes bed and breakfast accommodation at all hotels, transport and entry to venues and some special tour meals are included as detailed.  Transfers are also included from Heathrow to the start and end of the tour.  Gatwick transfers can be arranged on request at an additional cost.  See the full terms and conditions of Tudor History Tours.

 Day One

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We meet at the start of the tour at a riverside hotel in South West London at mid-day.  Nearby we first visit Syon House where Catherine Howard was taken after her arrest in 1542 and before she was taken to the Tower of London. 

Syon House is a magnificent Thames side stately home and has a turbulent history during the Tudor period.  Originally an Abbey, in 1539 it became Crown property before finally ending up as the family home of the Duke of Northumberland in 1594.

Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen here in 1553 by her father-in-law the Duke of Northumberland.


Day Two

janeseymourHampton Court Palace is perhaps the most famous Palace in the English speaking world.  It is the only surviving palace out of the 60 that Henry VIII built or confiscated.  Henry married two of his wives here.  After time spent exploring these magnificent buildings we travel to Windsor to spend the night at a Thames-side hotel.  Feature rooms are available.  Here we visit Windsor Castle where Henry VIII and his favourite wife, Queen Jane Seymour are buried together in St George's Chapel at this Castle.  Group numbers permitting we can have a private evening guided tour of the State Apartments.

Day Three

After watching the Changing of the Guard at 11.00am, there will be time to wander around Windsor and visit the castle again if you did not see it all, before we travel to Oxford.  We see some of the colleges and ancient buildings in this university city including Magdalen College, which displays a tapestry of the betrothal of Catherine of Aragon to Arthur, Prince of Wales. Other famous sites include the Ashmolean Museum, the Bodlean Library and the Oxford Union which you can explore at your leisure.  We travel to a picturesque Cotswold town to spend the night at a hotel which was first used as a hostelry in 947 AD.

Day Four

parr2We travel to Sudeley Castle, a grand manor house and the family home of Catherine Parr, Henry VIII's last wife.  Catherine is buried in a peaceful setting in St Mary's church within the wonderful grounds.  We will have a private tour of this splendid Castle.  There are numerous unusual scultpures within the grounds. 

We travel to Kenilworth to spend the night in a 16th century hotel.  Performances permitting, we go to Stratford-upon-Avon to see a play by the Royal Shakespeare Company.  This will be a seasonal production and there is no guarantee that any particular play will be on stage.

Day Five

catherineofaragonWe visit Buckden Towers, the Bishop's Palace where Catherine or Aragon lived before she was forcibly taken to Kimbolton Castle near Huntingdon where she later died. Henry VIII and Catherine Howard also visited this Palace. Kimbolton is not generally open to the public but a special guided tour has been arranged by appointment to Tudor History Tours.  After Kimbolton we travel to Peterborough Cathedral, unique in all of Christendom, where Catherine of Aragon is buried.  Fresh flowers are always to be found laid on the simple marble slab marking her last resting place. 

Mary, Queen of Scots was also buried there before being exhumed and re-interred at Westminster Abbey.  We spend the night at a charming riverside hotel in Stamford where the Knights Hospitallers slept on their way to the Holy Land a thousand years ago.  A group tour meal is provided where more formal dress code is required, definitely no jeans and tee shirts.

Day Six

We travel to Cambridge to see the Kings College Chapel. This building has the largest fan valuted roof construction still standing in the world.  Also the chapel has another unique claim to fame in that it has the only authenticated image of Catherine Howard on a stained glass window placed here.  There will be time to wander around the centre of Cambridge to view some of the other famous colleges and buildings before we head off to spend the night in a hotel dating from the early 1600s on the outskirts of London.  Feature rooms are available.

Day Seven

We visit the Tower of London, steeped in the nation's history for 1,000 years.  Two of Henry's queens, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard were executed in the Tower and their last resting places are in the chapel of St Peter and Vincula within the Tower.

Westminster Abbey, the coronation site of all the Kings and Queens since Mary, Queen of Scots, and also where ten of our sovereigns are buried, is our next port of call.  Elizabeth I is there and, somewhat hard to find, is the tomb of Anne of Cleeves.  Anne of Cleeves was perhaps Henry VIII's least favoured wife when married, but they remained on friendly terms for the rest of his life.

We spend the night in a hotel by the river Thames near the Globe theatre.  In the evening we see a play here, in the lovingly created replica of Shakespeare's original Globe Theatre, performances permitting.  A guided tour of the Globe is included in the tour costs. This will be a seasonal production and no garantee that a particular play will be performed.    We enjoy a fish and chip supper at the last galleried pub in London where Shakespeare met his friends and colleagues.  Supper costs are also included in  the tour.

Day Eight

anneboleyn1We travel south out of London to visit Hever Castle in Kent, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn. Perhaps one of the most famous love stories in history, Anne was considered a ravishing beauty by some, a witch by others.  Thanks to her influence Henry broke from the Catholic church and the Reformation followed. 

Hever reflects the atmosphere of the Tudor period and there is jousting held on some days during the season.  This is followed by a stop at nearby Penshurst Place, an important house in the Tudor Story. It was given to Anne of Cleves as part of her divorce settlement from Henry VIII before subsequently being exchanged for another.  At Penshurst and group numers permitting Hands-on-History will give a real live demonstration and re-enactment of life in Tudor Times.  You can dress up in armour, shoot arrows and may even fire a cannon!  Here we experience a typical meal which would have been common in the Tudor period. 

Day Nine

anneofclevesWe travel to Lewes where we see Anne of Cleeve's House, also part of her divorce settlement from Henry VIII.  Close by are the Priory ruins, part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII and Lewes Castle, scene of the Battle between Henry III and Simon De Montford in 1264.  Both are within easy walking distance in this County town of East Sussex and there will be the opportunity to visit these.   We spend the night in Lewes in a town centre hotel that was originally a coaching Inn and where feature rooms are available.

Day Ten

Group numbers permitting we will have a private guided tour of Firle Place, ancestral home of the Gage family.  Sir John Gage was Constable of the Tower and responsible for organising the execution of Catherine Howard. Major General Thomas Gage was the Commander in Chief of British Forces during the American war of Independance 1776. We spend the rest of the day in Arundel visiting the Castle, ancestral home of the Howard family.  Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, was uncle to both Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard.  Curiously both these wives were executed and Thomas was also due to be executed but Henry VIII died the night before Thomas's appointment with the block.  Arundel castle is the second largest inhabited castle in Britain and was the inspiration behind Mervyn Peake's Gothic novel, Gormenghast. 

We spend the last night of the tour in a fine hotel in Central London.  An end of tour group dinner is included in the cost of the tour.

Day Eleven

The tour finishes after a leisurely breakfast when transport is arranged to Heathrow or central London mainline railway stations.  Time permitting, extra visits to other London sites such as the British Museum can be arranged if requested before the tour starts. There will be an additional charge for this.