Tower of London
Fit for a King
From April 2010
This fascinating exhibition brings together a stunning range of customised armour and uniforms worn by royalty. Discover the personal stories behind the armour, from the Tudors to the modern day royal family. On the second floor of the White Tower discover an assortment of unusual objects including diamond encrusted guns and extravagant Victorian collector items. In association with the Royal Armouries.
Ceremony of the Keys
We currently have no members dates for the Ceremony of the Keys. Until we get more members dates you can apply in writing directly to the Ceremony of the Keys office, Tower of London, EC3N 4AB, to attend a date open to the general public. Please click here for more information.
Tower twilight tours
Date: 4 November 2009– 24 March 2010, Wednesdays, 19.00
Price: £22.50 (£25 for non-membes), please book your ticket by calling 0844 482 7788
Dare to take an evening tour of the Tower of London… Yeoman Warders lead these exclusive, after-hours tours, taking in some of the gruesome sights and spooky stories. (Tickets do not include entry into the Crown)
Colonel Blood and the Great Crown Jewels Robbery
2 – 5 April
Daily
Enter the world of Charles II, the Merry Monarch. Lively fun for all the family. Will you help or foil the dastardly Colonel
Blood and his gang?
Prisoners of the Tower
6 April – 31 May
Daily
All around the Tower keep a look out for the colourful prisoners of the Tudor monarchs. Listen to their tales of woe, help them plot their escapes or applaud
as they get their just desserts.
Hampton Court Palace
Florimania - flowers in art
12 - 14 March
This year, the ever popular floral event takes its inspiration from works of art throughout history and flowers will adorn Mary II's Apartments.
Tudor cookery
27 -28 March
2 - 5 April
1 - 3 May
Which dishes rumbled a Tudor tummy? Come in from the cold and feel the heat from the fire in our Tudor kitchens. Experience real smells and sounds as history chefs prepare a feast fit for a king.
Ghost Tours
1st November 2009 - March 2010 (Not including Christmas Day)
Fridays and Sundays, 19.30 start time.
Price: £25, please book your ticket by calling 0844 482 7788
Hear spine-chilling stories and experience the eerie atmosphere of Henry VIII’s State Apartments. Feel your hairs stand on end in the infamous Haunted Gallery.
Recommended minimum age 12 years. Numbers for tours are limited and advance booking is essential.
Tours last approximately 90 minutes and there are some light refreshments included.
Kids ghost tours
1 November 2009 – 7 March 2010.
Sundays at 17.00
Price: £12.50, please book your ticket by calling 0844 482 7788
How much do you really know about the spooky palace past? Creep your way around dark corners with your free ghost investigators booklet and hear stories of kings and queens from long ago.
Recommended minimum age 8 years. Limited numbers and advanced booking essential.
Henry’s Women weekends – Catherine of Aragon
Easter Weekend, 2 – 5 April
Cardinal Wolsey offers King Henry and Queen Catherine of Aragon the hospitality of his splendid new palace. With fools,musicians and all manner of entertainment
he hopes to distract his troubled sovereign. But troubles are brewing and if the Cardinal wants to keep his head he may have to show a grand gesture of loyalty.
Roof tours of Hampton Court Palace
Always oversubscribed by our members, these lecturer tours of the roof at Hampton Court Palace give members a bird’s eye view of all the work that has taken place over the recent months and see the palace shown off to its best advantage. We know there is a huge demand for these tours however we are restricted by the pressing conservation issues involved. If you did not manage to get on one of these tours this year, there will be more in the spring of 2010. Please watch this space.
Banqueting House
Lunchtime concerts
The concerts run from 13.00 - 14.00
A buffet lunch is served from 12.15
Price: £19
Tickets can be purchased by calling 0203 166 6153, or emailing Valerie.Jarvis@hrp.org.uk or in person from the Banqueting House,Whitehall, London SW1A 2ER (please check that the Banqueting House is open before visiting)
Liven up your lunch hour with the unique experience of a concert in the architecturally perfect Main Hall, under Rubens' masterpiece ceiling. Prior to every concert from 12.15 have a buffet lunch in the famous Undercroft, former drinking den of James I.
8 March
The Music Collection with Susan Alexander Max with Q & A's after the performance.
19 April
Rebecca Rudge & Donald Maxwell - Spring is here! A new programme of melody, wit and sentiment from the world of opera, classical song and caberet.
Evening concert
19.00
Enjoy an evening of music under the spectacular Rubens' ceiling followed by a buffet supper in the undercroft.
22 March
£21
The Whitehall Choir
Kensington Palace
Kensington Palace will be closed from 8 – 25 March 2010.
The last debutantes 1958. Season of change
Daily, ends 14 March 2010
Don’t miss your last chance to see this hugely popular exhibition exploring the alluring world of the debutante. See their
beautiful gowns, learn about what it meant to be a ‘deb’ and explore a world on the cusp of change.
Enchanted Palace
Opens 26 March 2010
The Palace is being transformed - stories are being shaken out with the dust telling the lives of beautiful princesses; Diana and
Margaret, Victoria, Charlotte and Caroline, Mary and Anne. These stories will be told through performance, music, film and spectacular
installations by leading fashion designers. This is a secret Kensington Palace - one you’ve never seen before!
Fantastical fairytales
15 – 18 April
10.00 – 16.00
Come and be enchanted at Kensington. Create your own fairytale characters, crowns and costumes in a palace where often fact is stranger than fiction.
Recommended age 5 – 13 years
Members only author series spring/summer 2010
Now is the perfect time to be part of the Historic Royal Palaces members’ author series and first ever book club. We have a great wealth of authors who support the important work Historic Royal Palaces does to conserve the palaces in our care but also have an affinity with the history and magnificence of the buildings themselves. Please click here for more information.
