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Pictures -
1. The formal gardens.
2. The fountain courtyard.
3. Mars sleeping on Venus's lap
4. The knight's new meaning of "cup."
5. Lulu among the flowers.
6. Harry and Lulu in front of the palace.
I must admit - I didn't pay much attention in my English history classes - heck - I didn't pay much attention in any of my classes. I probably learned more British history from the British rock invasion. Herman's Hermits sang about "Henry the Eighth." Lulu copied "Ann of a Thousand Days" to suffer me into the spirit.
With nothing planned last Sunday - Lulu decided we would take a train about 15 miles up the Thames River to Hampton Court. It is the a palace that rivals Versailles in France. This was the home of King Henry VIII. I was not quite ready for the size and grandeur of this home. At any one time over 1200 people were living with the king in his court.
Henry VIII was most famous for leaving the Catholic Church because the Pope would not grant him a divorce from his wife Katherine. To provide the divorce - Henry took over the church in England - including all of their land and wealth. After that - Henry went through a host of wives hoping for a male offspring to take over the throne.
Americans are used to having elected presidents. Our presidents must be elected by the people - not inherit their position by being the offspring of another president - usually. Britain seems to waste a lot of money on this royalty thing.
Hampton Court is beautiful. I can't even imagine how much it would cost to build a palace of this size and quality today. The place would easily sleep thousands of people - but we only saw two bathrooms.
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