Hampton Court Palace

Hampton Court Palace is a former royal palace in Hampton in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is about 12 miles (19 km) southwest and upstream of Central London and open to the public as a major tourist attraction. The palace gardens and nearby Bushy Park host the Hampton Court Flower Show annually.

Ghosts

Queen Jane Seymour gave birth to Prince Edward, the future King Edward VI at Hampton Court in 1537 and died there twelve days later, and her ghost is said to haunt the staircase in the Palace still. Queen Catherine Howard was arrested there in 1542 and is said to have run along the Long Gallery screaming for King Henry VIII to save her, before his guards caught her and dragged her away. A ghost is said to haunt the palace, sometimes screaming in the same hallway. Others report seeing the notorious King Henry VIII.

Related Topics:
Jane Seymour - Prince Edward - 1537 - Catherine Howard - 1542 - Henry VIII

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In December 2003, it transpired that in October a closed-circuit security camera at Hampton Court had recorded an indistinct image of "a mysterious figure in a long coat closing the fire doors." According to one report, "the palace... maintained that the footage provided conclusive evidence that ghosts exist." http://www.hrp.org.uk/webcode/content.asp?id=854 A female palace visitor wrote in the visitor book that she may have seen a ghost in that area during this time, also. Explanations for the phenomena have ranged from a psychology researcher's suggestions that it could have been "a member of the public thinking they were being helpful by shutting the doors" to other researchers suggesting thermal effects.

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