Hever Castle - The former residence of the most storied Queen Anne Boleyn in the UK
On the way back from Brighton to London, we turned to Hever Castle. This attraction is relatively niche, but it is a very beautiful and storied place. It is the former residence of the famous Queen Anne in British history. Queen Anne is the first queen who successfully rose to power as a mistress, and also the first queen to be executed. She is also the biological mother of Elizabeth I. King Henry VIII pursued her for many years, and it took six years just to divorce his ex-wife for her. The 17 love letters he wrote to her were all sent to Hever Castle.
The castle was built in the 13th century. Anne's cousin later inherited the castle. She was Henry VIII's fourth queen, and it seems that she was also executed later... It is said that Anne's sister was also Henry VIII's mistress, and it is said that she also gave birth to an illegitimate child... The relationship is so confusing... Anyway, after the decline of Queen Anne's family, the castle gradually declined, changed hands many times, and was finally bought and renovated by William Waldorf, the founder of the Waldorf Hotel in the United States.
The current castle, the interior is basically restored to the Tudor style, and the garden outside is Italian style. The American tycoon has money, hired 800 workers, and dug an artificial pond for 19 months. The ducks here originally could only swim in the moat, but now they are very fortunate to have a larger entertainment circle. There is a row of houses behind the castle, which should have been for the castle service staff and the king's followers and guests to live in. Now it has been converted into a hotel. We are not in a hurry to return, so we stayed in the hotel and experienced the castle atmosphere.
Taking advantage of the good internet, I searched for the movie 'The Other Boleyn Girl' and secretly supplemented Xiao Chen with historical knowledge. This film is very good, the actors are all familiar faces from Marvel, including Black Widow, Doctor Strange, Thor's girlfriend, etc., Xiao Chen easily accepted this history and culture class. Then I took the opportunity to supplement a bit of Eastern cultural thought, the main content is to be kind to others, to be humble in life. I don't know how much she heard, I hope she can really know the cycle of cause and effect, understand that there must be my teacher in the three people, have the right mind and good thoughts in life, have a humble heart, Amitabha .
In short, this is a good attraction, the tour group may not include it in the itinerary, but if you are self-driving, I highly recommend coming here. Apart from other things, reading stories and tasting life on the spot is very rewarding. Of course, the hotel is very good, eating an English brunch in a Tudor-style restaurant is also a very good experience.