They must have had a funfair on the green last night because it's in the middle of packing up and going home.
This is definitely how I recommend spending your Sunday morning... wandering through a field of closed tents, tied-up trash bags and neon lights sticking out the back of trailer-trucks, and then straight to Henry VIII's own private chapel in the heart of Hampton Court Palace.
They open it up to the public every Sunday because they can't charge people to pray, so oh goody you're thinking... does that mean I can pretend to be religious and do a bit of sightseeing for free? That is what you're thinking, right? (Shame on you!) Well the answer is you're not supposed to. If you want to see the rest of the palace afterwards then you're supposed to buy an entry ticket.
Tiltyard Cafe & Reception
It's worth turning up sixty minutes early for a stroll along the river because you can get a pretty good look at the back of the palace through the fancy iron railings. After that I recommend finding the Tiltyard Cafe for a cup of pre-church tea, before making your way to the reception at half-past ten.
The reception is down the left-hand side of the palace. (Walk up the long drive and turn left before the front facade, then turn right towards the cop's cabin and car barrier. Reception is just to the left of that.) If you tell the nice lady that you're only there to attend the "service in Chapel Royal" then she'll let you in for free.
It only works on Sunday mornings though, because that's when the service is. And you do actually have to attend it. But I must say that they are extremely trusting because they let you make your own way to the chapel totally unescorted -- so what's to stop you walking wherever you like? Nobody stopped me to ask for a ticket.
Photo: Robin Sones/Wikimedia CommonsBut do me a favour and play by the rules because if somebody did demand to see your ticket then you'll deserve to get kicked out for being so tight. If you want to see the rest of the palace afterwards then buy a ticket.
Henry VIII's Chapel Royal
Photo: Michael Coppins/Wikimedia CommonsThe Chapel Royal is easily the best room in the palace and the ceiling is one of the most fantastic things you'll ever see, full of deep blues, dark reds and chestnut coloured wood. And above your head towards the back is the balcony where Henry and Anne Boleyn used to sit.
Photo: chapelroyalhamptoncourt.org.ukAbout ten minutes before the service starts they begin letting people into the pews and if you're lucky you'll be allowed to sit in the quire (the stalls directly behind the choir, all warmly lit with lampshades). They surprisingly separate all the men from the women, though -- men on the left and women on the right -- so you might get split up from your family if you accept a seat in there.
Whilst this game of musical chairs is going on the organ will be pounding out in the balcony, and then all of a sudden the lamplights will dim down and the choir will parade in, made up of sixty year-old blokes and six year-old boys, all dressed-up in red tunics, white ruffles and frocks or smocks or whatever it is they wear on Victorian Christmas cards.
I actually made an effort to listen to the readings today but my head was filled with other things: thoughts of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn staring down from the balcony. It's quite something to imagine them sitting up here, in the exact same seats, looking down on the exact same proceedings that we're witnessing today: the organ's still playing, the choir's still singing, but the candles are electric instead of flame (you can't escape health and safety).
If you enjoy Hampton Court Palace then you might like to visit Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace and Windsor Castle. Other church services I recommend attending are the Evensong at St. Paul's, the Evensong at Westminster Abbey, and the Sunday service at the Tower of London
