When Neil Daws was asked to work with Historic Royal Palaces on a cosy crime historical novel set in Hampton Court Palace he agreed enthusiastically – well, who wouldn’t? He tells us about some of the unusual places and characters he came across while researching Murder at the Palace, which is set in Hampton Court‘s Grace and Favour apartments.
Visitors arrive at Hampton Court Palace with well-known tales of Henry VIII in their heads but soon learn there are other intriguing stories to discover. One of these relates 250 years of monarchs rewarding their subjects with accommodation, which became known as Grace and Favour.
With its 1,400 rooms, numerous internal courtyards, scores of stairwells and passageways, and acres of parkland and gardens, being asked to write about the palace would always have been a daunting but attractive prospect. Add thousands of residents, servants and other staff who worked there throughout this period and you can imagine how fertile the ground appeared to a murder mystery author such as me.
Grace and Favour for the royal entourage of George II (1727–60) at Hampton Court existed as early as the 1730s but the palace fell out of fashion as a regular venue for the royal court to visit. Its fate was sealed when George III (1760–1820) decided not to live there at all after his accession — but it was not abandoned.
Over the next 200 years, dozens of apartments were gifted rent-free by the reigning monarch to those who had given great service to crown or country, or, as was usually the case, their widows. Of the 53 original apartments and detached houses on the estate, which rose to almost 70 at its height, only four per cent went to men.
Competition intensified during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901) but the palace was full. With a waiting list of up to 20 years, it became almost impossible for anyone to get an apartment.
At one point, 100 residents lived at the palace, employing 200 to 300 domestic servants, mostly female. But this masks the reality of widely differing circumstances. Some lived very well, some were less fortunate but got by, others lived in poverty.
With an average of 14 rooms, often of vastly differing sizes arranged in a haphazard configuration, sometimes over several floors or in strange locations, it remained no more than pot-luck what kind of apartment was granted.
Despite apartments being cleaned before occupancy, and sometimes updated and painted, they often had no bathroom or central heating and many residents disliked them. The cold, damp rooms were difficult and expensive to heat, forcing some to flee elsewhere during winter.
The configuration of the palace also proved challenging. Although delivery boys dropped off shopping by bicycle, residents found lugging heavy bags up several flights of stairs difficult and some overcame the problem by employing ingenious rope and pully systems.
As the Lord Chamberlain’s representative with oversight of residents and (until 1901) the designated Keeper of the Chapel Royal, the Lady Housekeeper was a powerful figure. That’s not to say either had it easy. Disputes between residents, the Lady Housekeeper, and the Lord Chamberlain, were constant, wide-ranging and numerous.
These included: the allocation of chapel pews; the noise, smell and disruption from pets; the intrusion, noise and disruption from hordes of day-trippers and their children; the impropriety of domestic servants; and general dissatisfaction with all and sundry. A constant deluge of letters to the Lord Chamberlain requesting improvements often came to nothing and residents despaired when told they would have to pay for any work themselves.
Any self-respecting cosy crime mystery relies on interplay between the sleuth, detective, suspects and other characters. Fortunately, the history of Hampton Court Palace is blessed with a plethora of colourful real-life celebrities from which to draw inspiration.
Not only did minor British royals (such as George III’s sons – the Dukes of Kent and Clarence) sometimes live at the palace, but foreign royalty too, such as Princesses Bamba, Catherine, and Sophia, daughters of the Maharaja Duleep Singh. Sophia and Catherine were strong supporters of the campaign for women’s suffrage but Sophia was perhaps the most active, becoming a leading figure in the Women’s Social and Political Union.
Military associations abounded, with such residents including Lady Barnard, widow of General Sir Henry Barnard (who died during the Indian Mutiny in 1857); Field Marshal Lord Birdwood, Commander-in-Chief of India; and the Countess of Mornington, mother of Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington, and Richard, Marquess Wellesley, Governor-General of India.
Other famous residents include: Mrs Hannah Scott, mother of Captain Robert Falcon Scott; Lady Emily Shackleton, widow of Sir Ernest Shackleton; Professor Michael Faraday, the scientist; Olave, Lady Baden-Powell, the head of the Girl Guides movement and widow of the founder of the Boy Scouts; and Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, the famous landscape gardener, who became Master Gardener at Hampton Court palace.
With such diversity in residence at the palace, an active social scene developed. Ladies enjoyed the Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, a private garden for hobby horticulture and another as a quiet retreat, allotments, afternoon tea (if invited!) and evening gatherings.
One regular hostess was Lady Georgiana Grey, daughter of former Prime Minister the second Earl Grey (of speciality tea fame). Another, Mrs Rosalind Kennedy (mother of Ludovic), became an ardent supporter and organiser of amateur musical events, shows and concerts.
Many residents also became involved with the on-site infants’ school, which moved to Tennis Court Lane in the 1870s, contributing financially and sitting on the committee. Not only did it take the children of workers and soldiers at the palace but also from families of nearby villages.
But the early part of the 20th century brought rapid change. Two world wars, the independence of countries like India, the general decline of the British Empire, and the expense of maintaining apartments heralded the demise of the Grace and Favour system at Hampton Court Palace. Although the last few apartments were granted in the 1960s, the palace became an Ancient Monument in 1969 and former residences were restored and put to other uses whenever vacated.
Much still survives from that bygone era to interest today’s keen-eyed visitors. Doorways display name plaques of previous occupants, winches remain affixed in stairwells, and staircases and passageways are still referred to by the names of former residents.
Murder at the Palace by NR Daws is published on 13 March, 2025.
Neil Daws is a novelist and HWA member. His Kember and Hayes crime mysteries are set against the backdrop of WWII.
You may enjoy these related Historia features:
Henry VIII, impotence and the thorny question of male heirs by Carol McGrath
The crown: secrets for success by Tracy Borman
Re-examining the history of Empire in fact and fiction by Tom Williams
The window-smashing suffragettes of 1912 by Jennifer Godfrey
The women left behind by Scott’s Antarctic expedition by Anne Fletcher
Queen Victoria: a dark, if splendid, monster? by Miranda Carter
The Moot at Monzie: international friendship in the shadow of the Second World War by Rob McInroy
Images (supplied by the author unless otherwise stated):
- Hampton Court Palace from across the River Thames
- Residents’ access hallway
- Winch for drawing up shopping baskets (at top of photo)
- Princesses Bamba, Catherine and Sophia Duleep Singh, 1892: Wikimedia (public domain)
- Tennis Court Lane
