You may have seen the news about the discovery of a contemporary carving of Anne Boleyn’s falcon badge and how Paul Fitzsimmons, an antiques dealer, bought it for £75 and how it’s now worth £200,000. It’s a wonderful find and the good news is that Paul isn’t keeping it to himself, it’s going on loan to Hampton Court Palace. Thank you, Paul, and thank you to Tracy Borman, Joint Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces.
In this video, I interview my dear friends, Sandra Vasoli and James Peacock, who both played key roles in the story of this carving. It is a fascinating story.
Paul’s website is https://www.marhamchurchantiques.com/ and a big thank you to him for allowing us to use his photos of Anne Boleyn’s falcon badge before and after its restoration. Photo credit: Paul Fitzsimmons, Marhamchurch Antiques
You can find out more about the symbolism of Anne Boleyn’s badge and the other parts of her heraldry in my article here on the Anne Boleyn Files at https://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/anne-boleyns-badge/
Sandi is the author of two novels about Anne Boleyn – Struck with the Dart of Love and Truth Endures – and a non-fiction book Anne Boleyn’s Letter from the Tower. Her website is https://sandravasoli.com/
James works at Hampton Court Palace and also runs the popular Queen Anne Boleyn Society on social media – https://www.facebook.com/anneboleynsociety, https://twitter.com/anneboleynsoc and https://www.instagram.com/anneboleynsociety/