Today Kyla and I got to see one of the places on her bucket list: Hampton Court Palace. This royal building has an interesting history. It was originally built in 1515 by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, a friend and advisor to King Henry VIII. Wolsey was tasked with convincing the Pope to allow Henry to divorce his first wife. When Wolsey was unable to accomplish this, he quickly fell out of favor with Henry. In order to try to get back in the King’s good graces, Wolsey gave his new palace to the King.

Most of the palace today are the buildings that Wolsey “gifted” the king. More was added in the 1700’s under King George I. It has acres upon acres of beautiful gardens, ornately decorated rooms, and a ton of historic majesty. We spent most of the day just wandering.