0:00:10 > 0:00:12Royal palaces
0:00:12 > 0:00:16have been at the heart of our history for a thousand years.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19The great hall. Magnificent.
0:00:20 > 0:00:24Pious building has produced some of the most splendid architecture
0:00:24 > 0:00:26in Britain.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29The ultimate expression of power and privilege.
0:00:29 > 0:00:35Some palaces have vanished, leaving hardly a clue they were ever there.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37Ooh, this is amazing.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40But many survive, revealing intimate details
0:00:40 > 0:00:46of kings and queens and their taste for extravagance.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54British palaces are temples to monarchy.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57Enshrined within their walls are all the clues we need
0:00:57 > 0:01:00to understand the nature of kingship.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03Many monarchs were enthused by architecture -
0:01:03 > 0:01:06connoisseurs of beauty and elegance.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09A few almost bankrupted the nation
0:01:09 > 0:01:11through their palatial aspirations.
0:01:14 > 0:01:19Inside was a world of entertainment - public and private.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21They were havens of pleasure.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26But sometimes they were also places of fear,
0:01:26 > 0:01:29oppression and even violent death.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35Every palace reflects the character and fortunes
0:01:35 > 0:01:38of the king or queen who created it.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42No buildings in history have more dramatic stories to tell.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09OMINOUS DRUMBEATS
0:02:16 > 0:02:21No single building speaks of English history more powerfully
0:02:21 > 0:02:23than the Tower of London.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27Built by William the Conqueror after his invasion of 1066,
0:02:27 > 0:02:30it is Britain's oldest surviving royal building.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38Today, we think of the Tower of London
0:02:38 > 0:02:43as a place of imprisonment, torture and execution,
0:02:43 > 0:02:47but it started as the earliest Norman palace in England.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49It was described as "Arx Palatina",
0:02:49 > 0:02:52meaning "fortified palace".
0:02:52 > 0:02:54That was the first time that term had been applied
0:02:54 > 0:02:56to a building in England.
0:02:59 > 0:03:05The first Arx Palatina took its name from the Palatine Hill in Rome.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08Palatinas were the homes of Roman emperors -
0:03:08 > 0:03:10architecture that proclaimed to the world
0:03:10 > 0:03:13they were the most powerful men on Earth.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28This tower, that became known as the White Tower,
0:03:28 > 0:03:32must, when new, have been shocking to the people of London.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35Anglo-Saxon kings and lords
0:03:35 > 0:03:38had not built vast stone castles
0:03:38 > 0:03:42so this tower was alien and intimidating.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46It proclaimed that a new order had been established -
0:03:46 > 0:03:49that the Norman invaders were here to stay.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58BELL RINGS
0:03:59 > 0:04:04For centuries it was said, whoever holds the Tower holds London.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08And whoever holds London holds the nation.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12The Tower was the single most important military building
0:04:12 > 0:04:16in the kingdom, and it was more than just a fortress.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21It contained the essential accommodation of the royal palace.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25It was relatively comfortable and up here were private chambers
0:04:25 > 0:04:31heated in the most pioneering way - by fireplaces set into the walls.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34You can imagine a roaring fire here
0:04:34 > 0:04:38with smoke exiting through a little flue cut into the wall up there.
0:04:38 > 0:04:43So these private chambers had their own fireplaces.
0:04:43 > 0:04:44Very modern.
0:04:44 > 0:04:49Also, a very good supply of latrines in the thickness of the walls.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51But, in many ways,
0:04:51 > 0:04:55the most important aspect of this building was its sacred role.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00DRAMATIC MUSIC
0:05:02 > 0:05:07MUSIC GAINS CHORAL THEME
0:05:12 > 0:05:16William had seized the English throne by brute force
0:05:16 > 0:05:19so divine sanction was especially important to him.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24At the heart of the Tower, he created one of Britain's most solemn
0:05:24 > 0:05:27and beautiful churches.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33This is a Chapel Royal -
0:05:33 > 0:05:35just a sacred chancel.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39There is no nave because there was no congregation,
0:05:39 > 0:05:42just the King and the Queen, clerics
0:05:42 > 0:05:45and the initiates of the court.
0:05:45 > 0:05:50The chapel's like a finely balanced set of scales.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53The pivot is here, in the sacred centre,
0:05:53 > 0:05:56between these columns.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00Over there is the King and Queen, representing worldly power.
0:06:01 > 0:06:06And there is the altar, representing spiritual power.
0:06:06 > 0:06:11For an harmonious monarchy, these had to be kept in balance,
0:06:11 > 0:06:15but that, I suppose, is what this chapel was all about.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44It might not look it but the Tower is a template
0:06:44 > 0:06:47of every British royal palace that followed.
0:06:50 > 0:06:55It offered not just security but comfort, innovation,
0:06:55 > 0:07:00display, and split accommodation between the King and the Queen.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08This was the King's bed chamber.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12Now it's been faithfully recreated to show its appearance
0:07:12 > 0:07:15in the late-13th century.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18Here is a recreation of the King's bed,
0:07:18 > 0:07:22based, like the room itself, on contemporary documents, accounts,
0:07:22 > 0:07:24illustrated manuscripts.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28A lovely thing with the sumptuous hangings and a canopy.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31What intrigues me is his bed was portable.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35It could be easily broken down and transported around the kingdom
0:07:35 > 0:07:37with the King when he went on his journeys.
0:07:37 > 0:07:41And here is a mighty fireplace.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45A great canopy with lots of heraldic and symbolic decoration.
0:07:45 > 0:07:46The arms of England, there.
0:07:46 > 0:07:48You can imagine the fire was going.
0:07:48 > 0:07:53How comfortable, how warm, how bright the room would have been.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56And the walls are light with stencilling - all very jolly.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01This really does display the elegance of majesty.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13Medieval monarchs were often on the move around the kingdom
0:08:13 > 0:08:18but the Tower was always a haven in times of trouble.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23The earliest recorded account of a king spending any time here
0:08:23 > 0:08:26relates to William I's grandson Stephen,
0:08:26 > 0:08:29who spent Whitsuntide here in 1140.
0:08:29 > 0:08:34He was taking advantage of the Tower's strong fortifications.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37It was a refuge for him during the time of the anarchy -
0:08:37 > 0:08:41the civil war he was fighting against his cousin Matilda
0:08:41 > 0:08:42for possession of the crown.
0:08:51 > 0:08:56Stephen was supported by his brother, the Bishop of Winchester,
0:08:56 > 0:08:58who lived just across the river.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02Bishop Henry was the most powerful cleric in the country.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08Henry was not only powerful and well connected.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10He was cultured.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14He collected Roman antique sculpture excavated in Rome.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18There can't be many people in 12th-century England doing that.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21He loved books and had a passion for architecture -
0:09:21 > 0:09:25for palatial architecture - to express his power and his taste.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35Medieval bishops lived like kings
0:09:35 > 0:09:39and so, naturally, they too lived in palaces.
0:09:46 > 0:09:51All that survives of the once great Winchester Palace
0:09:51 > 0:09:57is the west wall of the great hall, with its stupendous rose window.
0:09:57 > 0:10:02And of course, the hall was the ceremonial heart of the palace.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06The three openings that look like windows were in fact doors,
0:10:06 > 0:10:11and their threshold shows us where the level of the main hall was.
0:10:11 > 0:10:16Those doors led to the kitchen, the buttery and the pantry.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20At this end of the hall, where I'm standing, this is the high end.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23Here would have been the dais and the high table,
0:10:23 > 0:10:27where Henry would have sat in his power and glory.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43The palace was not located in a parish,
0:10:43 > 0:10:46but in a self-governing liberty,
0:10:46 > 0:10:49known as the Liberty of the Bishop of Winchester.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53What this meant was certain rights normally reserved for the King
0:10:53 > 0:10:57or for the parish authorities devolved upon the Bishop.
0:10:57 > 0:11:01For example, he had his own law courts, his own police,
0:11:01 > 0:11:05his own jail, known as The Clink.
0:11:05 > 0:11:10So here, the Bishop ruled with the power of a worldly prince,
0:11:10 > 0:11:13collecting his own rates and taxes.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21Together with Lambeth Palace,
0:11:21 > 0:11:24home of the Archbishop of Canterbury, they put immense
0:11:24 > 0:11:28ecclesiastical power one side of the river
0:11:28 > 0:11:30and royal power on the other.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47Today, the 19th-century Houses of Parliament sit on the site
0:11:47 > 0:11:52of the King's other London home, the old Palace of Westminster.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55But one great medieval fragment survives.
0:12:08 > 0:12:13Westminster Hall, over 70m long and 20m wide,
0:12:13 > 0:12:17was the largest great hall in England. Indeed, in Europe.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21An incredibly impressive token of royal power - of kingship.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31It was Richard II, the great lover of art and architecture,
0:12:31 > 0:12:35who transformed Westminster Hall into a potent
0:12:35 > 0:12:37and powerful symbol of majesty.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42He occupied the royal apartments here in the late-14th century.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46This was where he met with his great council and was the site
0:12:46 > 0:12:50of coronation banquets and home to the highest law court in the land.
0:12:53 > 0:12:57Of vast scale, the hall became the heart, the power base
0:12:57 > 0:13:02of medieval England, a centre of ceremony, of government, of law.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06Virtually everything of importance that happened in medieval England
0:13:06 > 0:13:08happened here.
0:13:13 > 0:13:17The hall incorporates a piece of pioneering medieval engineering.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21At the time, the roof covered the widest single span
0:13:21 > 0:13:23in the Western world.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29The roof comprises of a number of trusses.
0:13:29 > 0:13:35Each truss incorporates a pair of horizontal oak beams called
0:13:35 > 0:13:40hammer beams and here's a hammer beam with an angel at the end of it.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45And the hammer beam is partly supported
0:13:45 > 0:13:48by a curved oak brace...
0:13:48 > 0:13:52that rests on a stone corbel in the wall.
0:13:53 > 0:13:58From the end of the hammer beam just above the angels,
0:13:58 > 0:14:03an arch springs that goes right the way across the hall
0:14:03 > 0:14:09to the corresponding hammer beam on the other end.
0:14:09 > 0:14:14Now, look carefully and you will see another arch that
0:14:14 > 0:14:19rises from the stone corbel through the hammer beam,
0:14:19 > 0:14:22right the way across the arch,
0:14:22 > 0:14:27touching indeed the smaller arch to the other side of the hall.
0:14:27 > 0:14:32So for greater stability, there are two integrated structural systems.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46This is also a sacred space.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50The angels in the roof suggest the vault of heaven itself.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55While the King's personal emblem of a white hart adorns the walls.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59The building proclaims both the earthly
0:14:59 > 0:15:02and the spiritual status of the monarch.
0:15:09 > 0:15:13This brilliantly engineered roof structure of heroic scale
0:15:13 > 0:15:16was one of the wonders
0:15:16 > 0:15:19of its age -
0:15:19 > 0:15:22an architectural project of princely proportion.
0:15:25 > 0:15:30And it still communicates, after all these centuries. Beneath it,
0:15:30 > 0:15:35I feel a sense of pride, of wonder.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38It makes the spirit soar.
0:15:54 > 0:15:59The old Palace of Westminster was not strongly fortified, so kings
0:15:59 > 0:16:03often had reason to flee back to the Tower in times of civil unrest.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17By Richard's reign, the Tower's defences had expanded in size.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20It was one of the strongest fortresses in the realm.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39The walls are thick and these windows are later -
0:16:39 > 0:16:44originally, it would have been narrow arrow slits.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46And over here...
0:16:46 > 0:16:50Good Lord! Here's the late medieval portcullis mechanism.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53Incredible.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56Um... It's very intact.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59This sort of ship's wheel is for raising
0:16:59 > 0:17:01and lowering the portcullis -
0:17:01 > 0:17:03there it is, in its raised position.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06Wonderful ratchet here.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08Fantastic thing.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10And down here...
0:17:10 > 0:17:13is one of the murder holes
0:17:13 > 0:17:15in the arch of this gatehouse.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22Down there...well, would have been attackers - now there are tourists.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26I can hear them! But frightful things would have been
0:17:26 > 0:17:30poured down this hole upon them from the defenders in this room.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33I suppose it would have been a killing zone created
0:17:33 > 0:17:38by the portcullis being lowered and the doors here being closed.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42This was very much a fighting chamber.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58In a crisis, the Tower provided vital munitions, troops
0:17:58 > 0:18:00and provisions.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04It was also the storehouse for the Crown Jewels.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09It homed the Royal Mint, source of the nation's currency.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19This is where the Royal Mint was located, within the Tower,
0:18:19 > 0:18:23from about 1280-1812.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27And here are two coins that were struck here, both
0:18:27 > 0:18:32date from the late-14th century from the reign of Richard II.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35This wonderful thing is
0:18:35 > 0:18:36a gold noble,
0:18:36 > 0:18:39worth six shillings and eight pence,
0:18:39 > 0:18:42a third of a pound.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44On it was an image of Richard,
0:18:44 > 0:18:48sailing upon his ship of state.
0:18:48 > 0:18:53And here is a half groat, a silver half groat,
0:18:53 > 0:18:55worth tuppence.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59Again, with a wonderful portrait of Richard on it and on the back,
0:18:59 > 0:19:02it's stamped London, meaning it was made right here.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06This, the half groat, could have bought me two gallons of ale.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09And a craftsmen at this time, say the 1380s,
0:19:09 > 0:19:13would have earned about five pence a day in London.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19Minting coins with one's image upon the coin was an attribute
0:19:19 > 0:19:25of kingship, it made quite clear who had financial control of the realm.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32In one of the rooms that housed the Royal Mint,
0:19:32 > 0:19:35a remarkable wall painting has been discovered.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45Jane Spooner,
0:19:45 > 0:19:48Curator of Historic Buildings at the Tower,
0:19:48 > 0:19:51has been investigating its secrets.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55Jane, it seems strange to find such a high-quality piece of sacred art
0:19:55 > 0:19:58in a place like this. Why is it here and what does it mean?
0:19:58 > 0:19:59It's connected with the workings of
0:19:59 > 0:20:01the Royal Mint which was based
0:20:01 > 0:20:03here in the Middle Ages.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07As a prestigious space, it would be decorated with a rich painting.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10It's tragic of course that the focus of this medieval painting
0:20:10 > 0:20:15has been obscured or destroyed by this Tudor chimney breast.
0:20:15 > 0:20:16That's right.
0:20:16 > 0:20:20The painting in the middle would have been a crucifixion of Christ.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23- Can you take me through the figures?- Yes, sure.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27You start off with John the Baptist, who was the last prophet,
0:20:27 > 0:20:30who also is pointing at Christ on the cross
0:20:30 > 0:20:32and pointing at the Lamb,
0:20:32 > 0:20:35and he's reminding the people in the room to remember their duty to
0:20:35 > 0:20:38God, to remember Christ's sacrifice for mankind.
0:20:38 > 0:20:43And then, just behind me, we've got St Michael holding the scales,
0:20:43 > 0:20:46weighing the souls. That means the Last Judgment.
0:20:46 > 0:20:47Right.
0:20:47 > 0:20:52He's actually reminding us to behave well in life because if we don't,
0:20:52 > 0:20:56we will be judged at the moment of death and also at the end of time.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00Those two things determine how long our soul spends in Purgatory
0:21:00 > 0:21:02and if we go to heaven rather than hell.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06- Useful warning for men dealing with bullion.- Exactly!
0:21:06 > 0:21:09And there were lots of crooks in the Mint at this date.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12They ended up often as prisoners or being hung,
0:21:12 > 0:21:16so it had a particular resonance for the people working here.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19Fascinating. This obviously relates to the Mint, as you say,
0:21:19 > 0:21:22but this is absolutely... The expense of the decoration,
0:21:22 > 0:21:25- the pigment, this is a room of a palace, isn't it?- Yes.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27Only in a palace would you find such a room in that period.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31We often think about castles today and the Tower of London
0:21:31 > 0:21:35as a dark and gloomy place full of dungeons and torture and death.
0:21:35 > 0:21:40But actually, this castle in particular was used by royalty
0:21:40 > 0:21:44and some of the interiors would have been extremely grand.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54And as for Richard II, King when this was painted,
0:21:54 > 0:21:58his cousin forced him to abdicate in 1399.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01Now, Richard's palace became his prison.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05Such was the uncertain fate of medieval kings.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18This is the earliest surviving detailed map of the Tower,
0:22:18 > 0:22:21it dates from 1597.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25You can see what a strong fortress it was,
0:22:25 > 0:22:27surrounded by a water-filled moat
0:22:27 > 0:22:30and the river, here.
0:22:30 > 0:22:31And to the north...
0:22:31 > 0:22:34open fields of fire!
0:22:34 > 0:22:36To stop attackers.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39And here, I can see
0:22:39 > 0:22:41"Posts of the Scaffold".
0:22:43 > 0:22:49This is Henry VIII's palace connecting down here
0:22:49 > 0:22:54to the Lanthorn Tower from the White Tower in the centre.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57Henry of course was the last monarch to build
0:22:57 > 0:22:59anything of significance within the Tower.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06Henry's palace at the Tower has now vanished, but he's left
0:23:06 > 0:23:09his signature on the building in the form of the extraordinary
0:23:09 > 0:23:11domes that crown the four turrets.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20To get inside one is a rare privilege.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28This is the largest dome and from here,
0:23:28 > 0:23:30I can see its construction,
0:23:30 > 0:23:31which...
0:23:31 > 0:23:33Good heavens!
0:23:33 > 0:23:36..turns out to be absolutely spectacular!
0:23:36 > 0:23:38Because beyond these joists,
0:23:38 > 0:23:44I can see an array of CURVING braces or struts
0:23:44 > 0:23:47which are helping to support the outer dome.
0:23:47 > 0:23:49Indeed, the curve of these struts mimics
0:23:49 > 0:23:52the profile of the outer dome.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55It's incredible really - they're much more complex than they need
0:23:55 > 0:23:59to be, they could have been just simply straight struts.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02But there they are, a wonderful creation of great beauty.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10The domes are a Renaissance flourish to a medieval structure
0:24:10 > 0:24:14and symbol of change in more ways than one.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20I'm standing on the roof of the White Tower and from here,
0:24:20 > 0:24:25you get a splendid view of these curvaceous lead-clad domes.
0:24:25 > 0:24:30They were created in 1532 as part of the embellishment of the Tower
0:24:30 > 0:24:36in preparation for the coronation of Henry's new Queen, Anne Boleyn.
0:24:36 > 0:24:42They are novel and characterful and I suppose in a way,
0:24:42 > 0:24:45they allowed Henry to make his mark on this ancient fortress
0:24:45 > 0:24:47and in the process,
0:24:47 > 0:24:52change its look and the silhouette of the City of London for ever.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12The next time Anne Boleyn came here, she was a prisoner.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16She'd failed to give Henry the son and heir he desired.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20That sealed her fate. He wanted rid of her.
0:25:20 > 0:25:25She was found guilty of adultery and incest
0:25:25 > 0:25:28and on the 19th of May,
0:25:28 > 0:25:301536,
0:25:30 > 0:25:33she was led from the Tudor palace that stood here
0:25:33 > 0:25:35to the block over there...
0:25:36 > 0:25:38..and beheaded.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51It was in the reign of Henry VIII that the Tower became
0:25:51 > 0:25:58really notorious as a place of imprisonment, torture and execution.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02Indeed, it was in this very vaulted cell that, by tradition,
0:26:02 > 0:26:05Sir Thomas More was held in 1534
0:26:05 > 0:26:08on the orders of Henry VIII
0:26:08 > 0:26:12for refusing to acknowledge the King as the head of the Church.
0:26:12 > 0:26:18And from this room, More is taken over to Tower Hill for execution.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21This book lists prisoners of the Tower -
0:26:21 > 0:26:24and there are thousands of them -
0:26:24 > 0:26:27dating from 1100 to 1941.
0:26:29 > 0:26:31Maud or Matilda FitzWalter.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36She was held prisoner "in the north-east turret
0:26:36 > 0:26:41"of the White Tower" for "repulsing the advances of King John".
0:26:41 > 0:26:43And she died.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47It says here she was "poisoned by an egg sent to her"
0:26:47 > 0:26:50in her cell "by the King".
0:26:51 > 0:26:53What a bounder!
0:26:55 > 0:26:59I mean, it seems to me that the pages are particularly packed
0:26:59 > 0:27:03in the 16th century here, during the reign of Henry.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06Page after page as one looks through here - hanged,
0:27:06 > 0:27:11hanged, hanged, hanged, hanged, hanged...
0:27:21 > 0:27:23Over the next few centuries,
0:27:23 > 0:27:26the Tower became more of a prison than a royal residence.
0:27:26 > 0:27:30Most of all, it was a storehouse for munitions and weapons.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36Henry never stayed here again.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46It's highly appropriate that Henry VIII,
0:27:46 > 0:27:50the English monarch with the largest and most aggressive personality,
0:27:50 > 0:27:54should have had more palaces than any other British king.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56He acquired them in various ways.
0:27:56 > 0:27:57He built them,
0:27:57 > 0:28:00he confiscated them or was given them
0:28:00 > 0:28:02by courtiers seeking favours.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05The most famous of his palaces is Hampton Court.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22Work on Hampton Court began in 1514.
0:28:22 > 0:28:26It was to be the grand residence of Cardinal Wolsey,
0:28:26 > 0:28:29Henry's chief adviser for the first half of his reign.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33Wolsey understood the power of architecture
0:28:33 > 0:28:35and his home set a new standard
0:28:35 > 0:28:37for courtly living and comfort -
0:28:37 > 0:28:40a palace for the new Tudor age.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52Hampton Court is so familiar,
0:28:52 > 0:28:54so revered,
0:28:54 > 0:28:57that it's easy to take it for granted.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00But it is a phenomenal creation,
0:29:00 > 0:29:02a phenomenal survival.
0:29:02 > 0:29:07It was, after all, conceived by one of the proudest
0:29:07 > 0:29:11and, after the King, most powerful men in England
0:29:11 > 0:29:16and was built at a critical time in the development of English
0:29:16 > 0:29:22architectural tastes - as the late Gothic gave way to the Renaissance.
0:29:22 > 0:29:26Wolsey wanted his palace to proclaim to the whole world
0:29:26 > 0:29:30that he was a great Renaissance prince of the Church.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44Henry always liked Hampton Court, treating it as his own,
0:29:44 > 0:29:48often arriving here unannounced.
0:29:48 > 0:29:53So when Wolsey fell from favour for failing to secure Henry's
0:29:53 > 0:29:57divorce from Catherine of Aragon, Wolsey, to appease the King,
0:29:57 > 0:29:59gave him the palace.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02Henry, of course, snapped it up.
0:30:10 > 0:30:12For Henry, there's much to appreciate
0:30:12 > 0:30:16and learn from Wolsey's architectural taste.
0:30:17 > 0:30:21Gatehouses and crenulations were an ornamental flourish to the past.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28The fine chimneys boasted of a house that was well heated
0:30:28 > 0:30:30and comfortable.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37And within the building's late Gothic frame,
0:30:37 > 0:30:40there's a hint of the classical age to come.
0:30:44 > 0:30:48The most fascinating details here are these terracotta roundels.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51They're among the earliest Renaissance sculpture
0:30:51 > 0:30:53ever produced in England.
0:30:53 > 0:30:56They were commissioned by Wolsey in 1521
0:30:56 > 0:31:00and made by the Italian sculptor Giovanni da Maiano.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04Recent research has established that they were made here,
0:31:04 > 0:31:08not in Italy, because they were wrought out of local clay.
0:31:08 > 0:31:12Each one is by tradition said to depict a Roman emperor -
0:31:12 > 0:31:15this one being Hadrian.
0:31:15 > 0:31:16From building accounts,
0:31:16 > 0:31:19we know Wolsey had eight or ten of these roundels made
0:31:19 > 0:31:22and each one cost two pounds, six shillings and eightpence
0:31:22 > 0:31:25and one pound to install.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33Wolsey was inviting heroic comparisons
0:31:33 > 0:31:35between Henry and Caesar.
0:31:37 > 0:31:41Alas, it wasn't enough to save him.
0:31:41 > 0:31:43After Wolsey's fall from favour,
0:31:43 > 0:31:46Henry started his own improvements at Hampton Court.
0:31:58 > 0:32:00The great hall - magnificent.
0:32:12 > 0:32:16The grandest and best preserved Tudor great hall anywhere.
0:32:16 > 0:32:20Created for Henry in the early 1530s, almost certainly replacing
0:32:20 > 0:32:22a smaller great hall on the site
0:32:22 > 0:32:25that had been built for Cardinal Wolsey.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29And here, look - an open hearth!
0:32:29 > 0:32:34This is a consciously old-fashioned detail for the 1530s, by which time
0:32:34 > 0:32:41fireplaces had been placed more conveniently in wall openings.
0:32:41 > 0:32:45I suppose Henry wanted to assert traditional English values
0:32:45 > 0:32:51with people being hardened, sitting in the smoke of burning English oak.
0:32:51 > 0:32:56Or he was evoking the golden age of the Middle Ages of myth -
0:32:56 > 0:32:59the court of King Arthur
0:32:59 > 0:33:02with himself, of course, the King.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05This hall was largely symbolic and ceremonial.
0:33:05 > 0:33:10We have this arrangement here for Henry and the Queen to sit,
0:33:10 > 0:33:14as Arthur and Guinevere, but they rarely dined here.
0:33:14 > 0:33:18They dined elsewhere in more comfort and convenience.
0:33:18 > 0:33:22And that magnificent hammer beam roof up there -
0:33:22 > 0:33:25wonderful piece of carpentry -
0:33:25 > 0:33:28originally painted with golden stars
0:33:28 > 0:33:31to look like the heavens.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34And on each of the horizontal hammer beam timbers
0:33:34 > 0:33:38projecting from the wall, are little heads. Why?
0:33:38 > 0:33:40Well, they're warnings really,
0:33:40 > 0:33:45to be careful what you say in this court, this great hall.
0:33:45 > 0:33:47Somebody will always be listening.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00The symbolic language in the great hall continues.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03Henry's years of worry were over.
0:34:03 > 0:34:07A son and heir had been born in 1537.
0:34:07 > 0:34:11Scenes from the Old Testament chime with Henry's life.
0:34:15 > 0:34:21The great artistic glory of the hall are the Abraham tapestries.
0:34:21 > 0:34:25There are ten of these, each one is very large. They were commissioned
0:34:25 > 0:34:28by Henry in the late 1530s,
0:34:28 > 0:34:31made in Brussels for the great hall.
0:34:31 > 0:34:33Incredibly impressive.
0:34:33 > 0:34:35They were vastly expensive.
0:34:35 > 0:34:38Big demonstrations of wealth, made of silk
0:34:38 > 0:34:41with gold and silver thread,
0:34:41 > 0:34:45they would have been sensationally bright when new, sparkled.
0:34:45 > 0:34:49Anyone entering here would have been overwhelmed by the colour.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52Now the subject matter is fascinating. This one,
0:34:52 > 0:34:58we see God appearing to Abraham, the great patriarch -
0:34:58 > 0:35:01the man who was called the "founder of nations",
0:35:01 > 0:35:04who had a difficult time,
0:35:04 > 0:35:07a great quest to gain a male heir.
0:35:08 > 0:35:10Married three times.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13All of this, of course, for Henry, had great meaning.
0:35:13 > 0:35:18It represented his trials, his tribulations, his aspirations.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32Few of Henry's rooms survive intact.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36This was the great watching chamber where he dined in greater privacy
0:35:36 > 0:35:39and where his guards controlled access
0:35:39 > 0:35:41to the private apartment beyond.
0:35:44 > 0:35:48Today, the corridors, with their watchful eyes from the past, echo
0:35:48 > 0:35:52the uncertain fortunes of royalty in the 15th and 16th centuries.
0:35:54 > 0:35:58Later monarchs would modernise relentlessly at Hampton Court
0:35:58 > 0:36:01as if to sweep away a more volatile age.
0:36:10 > 0:36:15The Tudor palace beyond this point was radically transformed
0:36:15 > 0:36:19in the 1690s for William and Mary.
0:36:19 > 0:36:23But a secret part of the Tudor palace survives -
0:36:23 > 0:36:25now not open to the public.
0:36:30 > 0:36:34The fine late-17th-century panelling is witness to
0:36:34 > 0:36:37how many of Henry's rooms have disappeared.
0:36:37 > 0:36:39But now, with building work going on,
0:36:39 > 0:36:44there's a chance to re-evaluate the Tudor fragments that survive.
0:36:44 > 0:36:45One rarely seen room
0:36:45 > 0:36:48is known to this day as Wolsey's Closet.
0:37:06 > 0:37:11The heraldic ceiling made out of leather mache - pressed leather -
0:37:11 > 0:37:13almost certainly does date from Wolsey's time.
0:37:13 > 0:37:16There is his motto up there in Latin -
0:37:16 > 0:37:18"Lord be my helper".
0:37:18 > 0:37:20Above me is a Tudor rose.
0:37:20 > 0:37:25And the important point is that this room does suggest
0:37:25 > 0:37:28the richness of the early interiors of Hampton Court,
0:37:28 > 0:37:32the richness of the royal apartments of Henry VIII.
0:37:41 > 0:37:44And there are challenging decisions ahead at Hampton Court,
0:37:44 > 0:37:48regarding the original Tudor interior,
0:37:48 > 0:37:52where to reveal one layer of history means another would be lost.
0:37:56 > 0:37:59This room doesn't look Tudor,
0:37:59 > 0:38:04but it was in fact part of Henry VIII's bedchamber.
0:38:06 > 0:38:10It is believed that below this early Georgian panelling
0:38:10 > 0:38:14that there are Tudor wall paintings.
0:38:14 > 0:38:16How intriguing!
0:38:16 > 0:38:18I wonder what they can be of?
0:38:18 > 0:38:23What would be appropriate for the bedchamber of Henry VIII?
0:38:23 > 0:38:27As with so many palace interiors, this room has changed over
0:38:27 > 0:38:32the centuries, indeed it's in the process of change once again.
0:38:41 > 0:38:45All around the main palace buildings are smaller buildings
0:38:45 > 0:38:48to service every need of Henry and his court.
0:38:53 > 0:38:56This could be a street in the centre of an ancient town.
0:38:57 > 0:39:00In fact, I'm in the heart of the Tudor palace.
0:39:00 > 0:39:03Hampton Court was at one level like a small town,
0:39:03 > 0:39:07with goods and people coming and going.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10When the court was here, there could be up to 800 people
0:39:10 > 0:39:14in the palace, needing food and drink and their laundry done.
0:39:26 > 0:39:29The kitchens at Hampton Court are an astonishing survival -
0:39:29 > 0:39:32a vast food factory that once served
0:39:32 > 0:39:36the Tudor court with 1,200 meals a day.
0:39:36 > 0:39:40Marc Meltonville is a food historian.
0:39:40 > 0:39:42So, we're cooking beef - nothing more exotic, like venison?
0:39:42 > 0:39:44I suppose beef was popular in the Tudor times.
0:39:44 > 0:39:48Beef is the most recorded dish that is cooked on the spit here,
0:39:48 > 0:39:50followed by mutton, venison comes a poor third to that.
0:39:50 > 0:39:54And this is the beef they would have cooked? Where was the beef from?
0:39:54 > 0:39:57Everybody thinks it will be cows roaming in the grounds, but it's not.
0:39:57 > 0:40:01There just isn't room and that's not a very good status symbol
0:40:01 > 0:40:03for a king - a king doesn't live on a farm.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06A king has gardens to walk in and all his food is brought in,
0:40:06 > 0:40:07that's better showing off.
0:40:07 > 0:40:10Everything here about the food would have been about
0:40:10 > 0:40:12showing how you are wealthier than everybody else.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15That's good for your guests, good for your foreign guests,
0:40:15 > 0:40:18- that shows your country is doing well.- These are tantalising
0:40:18 > 0:40:20- great slabs of flesh here.- Yes.
0:40:20 > 0:40:22Shall we get one, or both, on the spit?
0:40:22 > 0:40:25- Yes, I think we should. Robert could join us...- Ah, hello!
0:40:25 > 0:40:26Right, in we go.
0:40:28 > 0:40:32- Wow. So this... You're going to do this for two hours.- Oh, yes.
0:40:32 > 0:40:33And we should have not two pieces,
0:40:33 > 0:40:37but you'd carry on loading that spit up, so eight or nine pieces per bar.
0:40:38 > 0:40:42So these are local resources being devoured by the palace.
0:40:42 > 0:40:45Wood, the oak trees, and also the local animals.
0:40:45 > 0:40:49What a devastating experience, a long stay at the palace!
0:40:49 > 0:40:50You can't have a long stay.
0:40:50 > 0:40:55You can only stay at any of the palaces for two or three weeks,
0:40:55 > 0:40:58after which the merchants, the warehouses,
0:40:58 > 0:41:02the farms that supply this palace, start to run out.
0:41:02 > 0:41:04And I suppose it stinks - the cesspits overflow...
0:41:04 > 0:41:07You're going to need everything cleaned up!
0:41:10 > 0:41:13- That's looking good. - I have high hopes.
0:41:13 > 0:41:16I mean, beef cooked on the turn must be different.
0:41:16 > 0:41:18It should be some of the juiciest beef you've had.
0:41:18 > 0:41:20That does look absolutely wonderful.
0:41:20 > 0:41:22And then you get to try roast beef
0:41:22 > 0:41:24as it would have been in the Tudor court.
0:41:24 > 0:41:29Mm! Certainly, you know, a food fit for a king!
0:41:29 > 0:41:33This is what that fellow Henry VIII would have been gorging on,
0:41:33 > 0:41:35I can fully understand it.
0:41:35 > 0:41:36This is what both Henry
0:41:36 > 0:41:39and all of his court would've been getting, so you'd have gone away
0:41:39 > 0:41:43as a visitor saying not only does the King eat the finest roast beef,
0:41:43 > 0:41:47the finest dishes, but so do his courtiers and so do his guests.
0:41:47 > 0:41:48England is truly magnificent.
0:42:03 > 0:42:07Hampton Court was at least a couple of hours journey from London.
0:42:07 > 0:42:11And the royal apartments at Westminster had burned down.
0:42:11 > 0:42:14The second half of Henry's reign would see royal building
0:42:14 > 0:42:16in London on an astonishing scale.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25Henry could simply have rebuilt the royal apartments
0:42:25 > 0:42:27in the Palace of Westminster,
0:42:27 > 0:42:32but he decided to make his London residence more glorious and visible.
0:42:32 > 0:42:38So in 1529, he planned the development of Whitehall Palace.
0:42:42 > 0:42:46Today, almost nothing survives of Henry's greatest palace.
0:42:46 > 0:42:49But the busy thoroughfare of Whitehall still bears its name.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59Whitehall was the largest palace in Europe.
0:42:59 > 0:43:03Its buildings stretched from the banks of the River Thames to
0:43:03 > 0:43:05the deer enclosure of St James's Park
0:43:05 > 0:43:10and the hunting fields of Soho right up to present-day Oxford Street.
0:43:12 > 0:43:15It was a palace in two halves with a public Street
0:43:15 > 0:43:16through the middle.
0:43:16 > 0:43:20A pair of magnificent gatehouses linked the two sections
0:43:20 > 0:43:23of the palace while still allowing traffic to pass beneath.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29On the side closest to the Thames were the royal apartments,
0:43:29 > 0:43:32while the buildings on the north side, next to the park,
0:43:32 > 0:43:37were devoted to pleasure, including tennis courts, bowling alleys
0:43:37 > 0:43:39and a pit for cockfighting.
0:43:43 > 0:43:45What we know today as Horse Guards Parade
0:43:45 > 0:43:47was a palace tiltyard for jousting,
0:43:47 > 0:43:50one of Henry's favourite pastimes.
0:44:03 > 0:44:05But for Henry, Whitehall would begin to feel
0:44:05 > 0:44:08dominated by affairs of state.
0:44:08 > 0:44:11The shift in emphasis echoes today in the government ministries
0:44:11 > 0:44:14that have made Whitehall their home.
0:44:15 > 0:44:17It would be yet another palace
0:44:17 > 0:44:20that offered the King an escape and privacy.
0:44:21 > 0:44:24The only palace created by Henry from scratch
0:44:24 > 0:44:28and to survive is this, St James's Palace.
0:44:47 > 0:44:54Like Hampton Court, the palace is organised around a series of courts.
0:44:54 > 0:44:55Much of this one is Tudor,
0:44:55 > 0:45:00but most of the palace was rebuilt during the 17th and 18th centuries.
0:45:00 > 0:45:05When Whitehall Palace burnt in 1698 and during the 18th century,
0:45:05 > 0:45:10this was a dominant royal palace in central London.
0:45:10 > 0:45:13It's where ambassadors were received, where court assemblies
0:45:13 > 0:45:17took place and remains the official address of the monarchy.
0:45:21 > 0:45:25Today, St James's Palace is a poignant reminder of how
0:45:25 > 0:45:28Tudor Whitehall must have looked.
0:45:28 > 0:45:32Towering gatehouses, walls, buttresses and battlements.
0:45:32 > 0:45:34An entire world swept away.
0:45:39 > 0:45:43By the time Henry had completed his frenzy of building in Westminster,
0:45:43 > 0:45:47there was Whitehall Palace, St James's Palace, the rebuilt
0:45:47 > 0:45:52Palace of Westminster and their associated deer park and hunting
0:45:52 > 0:45:56reserve, he'd covered much of what we now think of as central London.
0:46:07 > 0:46:09But Henry still wasn't finished.
0:46:09 > 0:46:13Now he would embark on the most extraordinary palace of all -
0:46:13 > 0:46:18he called it Nonsuch because it would have no equal.
0:46:19 > 0:46:23Today, it's only possible to walk over the site, over the grave
0:46:23 > 0:46:28of one of the most extraordinary buildings ever created in Britain.
0:46:28 > 0:46:32Nonsuch Palace stood here, in front of me.
0:46:32 > 0:46:36This obelisk marks the location of the entrance gate, it would
0:46:36 > 0:46:40have towered up there, massive arch.
0:46:40 > 0:46:42Then beyond was the outer court...
0:46:42 > 0:46:47The next obelisk you can see, marks the site of the central gatehouse.
0:46:47 > 0:46:48And the third obelisk,
0:46:48 > 0:46:52that marks the location of the royal apartments.
0:46:52 > 0:46:57Now, within this relatively small area stood one of the greatest
0:46:57 > 0:46:59palaces ever built in Britain.
0:47:03 > 0:47:08In 1682, the palace was pulled down and over time,
0:47:08 > 0:47:10even the location of the site was lost.
0:47:12 > 0:47:16It became almost mythical, just a few contemporary images
0:47:16 > 0:47:20survived that did little to show the layout or details of the building.
0:47:27 > 0:47:31Then, in 1959, to much public excitement,
0:47:31 > 0:47:35the site of the palace was rediscovered and excavations began.
0:47:37 > 0:47:40MAN: 'The foundations, which have endured for more than 400 years,
0:47:40 > 0:47:45'those of Nonsuch Palace, near Epsom, which were originally laid in 1538,
0:47:45 > 0:47:49'to support a new extravagant country residence for King Henry VIII.
0:47:49 > 0:47:53'Eventually, in 1671, the palace came into possession of Charles II's
0:47:53 > 0:47:56'mistress, Barbara Villiers, who was created Baroness of Nonsuch
0:47:56 > 0:47:59'in consideration of her personal virtues.
0:47:59 > 0:48:01'But however all-embracing her virtues,
0:48:01 > 0:48:03'they did not include a love of architecture, for she had
0:48:03 > 0:48:06'the palace demolished and sold it piecemeal.'
0:48:22 > 0:48:23Ooh, this is amazing!
0:48:37 > 0:48:41To understand how amazing this palace was when it was built
0:48:41 > 0:48:44in the mid-16th century, you've got to imagine yourself arriving here.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47This courtyard, quite traditional, quite simple, really.
0:48:47 > 0:48:51Then, through this gatehouse in the middle, and then suddenly,
0:48:51 > 0:48:56entering the inner courtyard which must have exploded into life.
0:48:56 > 0:49:00The amazing imagery, this huge stucco panel
0:49:00 > 0:49:05showing the classical world, not familiar in mid-Tudor England.
0:49:05 > 0:49:07Roman emperors, gods and goddesses...
0:49:07 > 0:49:09And this dazzling white stucco,
0:49:09 > 0:49:11these deeply moulded panels,
0:49:11 > 0:49:14as if they are coming to life, leaping from the wall.
0:49:14 > 0:49:15This pair of towers are,
0:49:15 > 0:49:18in a way, the most extraordinary part of the palace.
0:49:18 > 0:49:20They are prospect towers, rising high,
0:49:20 > 0:49:24from where one could watch the hunt taking place in the park around.
0:49:24 > 0:49:26And between them,
0:49:26 > 0:49:31is the main elevation of the palace with a bay window there.
0:49:31 > 0:49:35These are incredible, the architecture is intensely practical
0:49:35 > 0:49:39because it contained a water cistern.
0:49:39 > 0:49:42So, the water, under gravity,
0:49:42 > 0:49:46would be fed into pipes around the royal apartment
0:49:46 > 0:49:50making the accommodation here incredibly comfortable.
0:49:50 > 0:49:54This must be one of the earliest examples of piped water in England.
0:50:01 > 0:50:04For Henry, the building and acquisition of palaces
0:50:04 > 0:50:06had become an obsession.
0:50:06 > 0:50:09But when he died, the mania died with him.
0:50:13 > 0:50:18His daughter, Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen, built no new palaces.
0:50:19 > 0:50:23Instead, she preferred to be the guest at the houses of her subjects,
0:50:23 > 0:50:27as she made her theatrical progresses around the country.
0:50:44 > 0:50:49She stayed here, at Ingatestone Hall in Essex in the 1560s,
0:50:49 > 0:50:51the guest of Sir William Petre.
0:51:03 > 0:51:07Those subjects fortunate enough to receive a visit from the Queen
0:51:07 > 0:51:10had to have pockets deep enough to cover the high cost
0:51:10 > 0:51:13of entertaining the Queen and her court.
0:51:13 > 0:51:16In front of me, I have documents
0:51:16 > 0:51:22relating to the cost of the Queen's visit here in 1561.
0:51:22 > 0:51:25These are copies of the documents, they're wonderful things.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28But the handwriting is very hard to read,
0:51:28 > 0:51:30so I have a transcript here.
0:51:30 > 0:51:36And, I can see that a large proportion of the items
0:51:36 > 0:51:41relate to food and drink consumed here during the great festivities.
0:51:41 > 0:51:44Some very exotic and some unfamiliar.
0:51:44 > 0:51:46There's a great stag being delivered,
0:51:46 > 0:51:49and there's oysters, there's fish, there's heron...
0:51:49 > 0:51:51and wine from Gascony.
0:51:51 > 0:51:55And a turkey cock - tremendous!
0:51:55 > 0:52:02And the total cost of all of this is £136 and 10 shillings,
0:52:02 > 0:52:07about £34 a day. A lot of money.
0:52:07 > 0:52:10So, the question is, what did William have to gain from this visit
0:52:10 > 0:52:13beyond impressing the neighbours?
0:52:13 > 0:52:15You might think, "Not a great deal."
0:52:15 > 0:52:18He was 60 years old almost, a made man.
0:52:18 > 0:52:20He'd weathered very difficult times,
0:52:20 > 0:52:23he had great wealth, a lot of land.
0:52:23 > 0:52:26So, what more could he get? Well, in fact, a lot.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30He, like the other people receiving the Queen, had a long-term view.
0:52:30 > 0:52:35They wanted to secure their gains, to protect their possessions.
0:52:35 > 0:52:38They wanted to lobby her and perhaps, in the process,
0:52:38 > 0:52:41gain access to some more funds and lucrative commissions.
0:52:41 > 0:52:43But really, in the end,
0:52:43 > 0:52:48their aim was to protect the long-term future of their families.
0:53:02 > 0:53:08As the Queen grew older, the future of England felt far from certain.
0:53:08 > 0:53:11A likely heir to the throne was Elizabeth's cousin,
0:53:11 > 0:53:14James VI of Scotland -
0:53:14 > 0:53:18a man with obsessive beliefs on kingship and architecture.
0:53:26 > 0:53:28The English were intrigued
0:53:28 > 0:53:32and there are clues to the character of the man here,
0:53:32 > 0:53:35at Stirling Castle, the place where he grew up.
0:53:50 > 0:53:53In the 16th century, Scotland was an independent nation
0:53:53 > 0:53:57with strong and direct cultural ties to continental Europe,
0:53:57 > 0:54:00as is revealed by this extraordinary royal palace.
0:54:22 > 0:54:25The clues to understanding the nature of James
0:54:25 > 0:54:27are on the outer walls of the palace.
0:54:29 > 0:54:34On this side, are figures of frightful demons and monsters,
0:54:34 > 0:54:38images from a dark and ancient world of superstition.
0:54:40 > 0:54:44In front of me is a winged devil with pendulous breasts,
0:54:44 > 0:54:49presumably a female devil, standing on a twisted column,
0:54:49 > 0:54:53rising from the back of a screaming figure.
0:54:55 > 0:54:58Being on the outer wall of the palace,
0:54:58 > 0:55:01I suppose these figures are our guardians,
0:55:01 > 0:55:04intended to frighten off potential invaders.
0:55:14 > 0:55:19On the inner face of the palace, are figures from a classical myth.
0:55:19 > 0:55:24They could proclaim this a palace of a Renaissance prince.
0:55:24 > 0:55:29The choice of deities and their attributes
0:55:29 > 0:55:33suggests a classical pedigree for divine kingship.
0:55:34 > 0:55:37Up here is Ganymede, cupbearer to the gods,
0:55:37 > 0:55:41who served Zeus, the king of the gods.
0:55:41 > 0:55:44And here...is Venus.
0:55:46 > 0:55:51Goddess, of course, of love and beauty. Gosh, she's wonderful.
0:55:52 > 0:55:54And here is Saturn,
0:55:54 > 0:55:59associated with measuring, with numbers, with architecture.
0:56:01 > 0:56:04And then, there's Flora,
0:56:04 > 0:56:10goddess of fertility, of the cycle of life and death.
0:56:10 > 0:56:13And above all, in the classical cornice,
0:56:13 > 0:56:20flutter a hierarchy of angels.
0:56:20 > 0:56:25This building is a diagram of divine kingship.
0:56:35 > 0:56:39The mix of provincial superstition with classical learning
0:56:39 > 0:56:41was a heady brew.
0:56:41 > 0:56:43And there was more.
0:56:43 > 0:56:48James had published his philosophy of monarchy for the world to read.
0:56:48 > 0:56:50It was a declaration of intent.
0:56:52 > 0:56:54In 1599 he wrote the Basilikon Doron,
0:56:54 > 0:56:59which is really a long letter to his son, Prince Henry,
0:56:59 > 0:57:02about divine kingship.
0:57:02 > 0:57:07In this book, James argues for the autocratic nature of kingship -
0:57:07 > 0:57:13that kings are ordained by God and are answerable only to God,
0:57:13 > 0:57:17and are indeed, in many ways, god-like themselves.
0:57:17 > 0:57:22Here James talks about the "just symmetry and proportion
0:57:22 > 0:57:26"betwixt the height of your honourable place
0:57:26 > 0:57:30"and the heavy weight of your great charge."
0:57:30 > 0:57:32Kingship came with a price.
0:57:32 > 0:57:36It was great power, but a heavy responsibility.
0:57:46 > 0:57:50James, that strange and complex force from the North,
0:57:50 > 0:57:55haunted by visions of demons, divine kingship,
0:57:55 > 0:57:59was set to revolutionise palace-building in England.
0:58:05 > 0:58:09Next time, out with the old and in with the new.
0:58:11 > 0:58:13Kings lifted up to the heavens.
0:58:15 > 0:58:18The biggest palace ever dreamt of...
0:58:18 > 0:58:20and the smallest.
0:58:22 > 0:58:25Recreating the glories of ancient Rome
0:58:25 > 0:58:28and Buckingham Palace breaks the bank.