(by royal appointment)
With Halloween approaching, Caroline Taggart – author of a new book on Britain’s 100 regal palaces – presents a guide to her most haunted Top 10
other. The wife said to have been his favourite – number three, Jane Seymour – died here shortly after giving birth to the longed-for son, the future Edward VI. It is suggested that the ghostly lady in a long white gown, who has been seen carrying a lighted taper down the Silver Stick Staircase and out into the Clock Court, may be her.
Tradition has it that wife number five, Catherine Howard, learning that she was to be charged with adultery, ran through the palace screaming and begging her husband for mercy. She was dragged away by guards but her ghost, still screaming, is seen in what is now called the Haunted Gallery. In the 12th century Archbishop Thomas Becket fell out with Henry II. Henry uttered the famous words, “Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?” whereupon four of his knights dashed off to Canterbury and slaughtered Thomas in the cathedral.
A plaque on the floor marks the spot where it happened and a candle burns in the Trinity Chapel where Thomas's tomb used to be.
If you are lucky, as you walk round the cloisters you will see the Lady Arbella Stuart, a noblewoman caught up in the debate over who would succeed the childless Elizabeth I, was imprisoned and died here. She is seen in the Queen's House on Tower Green. Two small boys in nightgowns who may be the “Princes in the Tower” are seen clutching each other in fear.
But again it is Anne Boleyn who hogs the headlines. In 1864 she was seen floating towards a guard in the courtyard near the place where she had been imprisoned before her execution.
The guard, thinking he had surprised an intruder, charged her with his bayonet, which passed straight through her body.
She is also seen in St Peter ad Vincula, the chapel within the Tower's precincts, walking up the aisle towards her own grave.
To order Bognor And Other Regises by Caroline Taggart (AA Publishing, £14.99), with free UK delivery, call the Express Bookshop on 01872 562310 with your card details. You can also send a cheque made payable to Express Bookshop to Bognor Offer, PO Box 200, Falmouth TR11 4WJ. Or buy online at expressbookshop.co.uk