December 8: Steward at Hampton Court Palace
Many of you will know James Peacock from social media (he's the founder of the Queen Anne Boleyn Society) and from his role as a steward at Hampton Court Palace - dream job! I'm lucky to count him as a friend.
James wanted to share with Anne Boleyn Files followers his two favourite memories: meeting his heroine Kylie Minogue at Hampton Court Palace (wow! I do love Kylie!) and laying flowers on Anne Boleyn's memorial tile at the Chapel of St Peter Ad Vincula, the Tower of London. Two very different, but very special, moments.
Over to James:
Laying roses on Queen Anne Boleyn’s grave is something I have always longed to do. It sounds like such a simple thing, but for someone who hates crowds - of which the Tower of London is famous for - it was something I thought about every year but never got round to it.
This year however, the anniversary of Anne’s tragic execution (19th May) also happened to be the day the Tower was reopening after months of lockdown (Historic Royal Palaces has been hit terribly from the loss of revenue over the past year and a half and any support; donations, joining as members etc, helps the work to preserve these beautiful buildings). So this year there was no excuse. Luckily I had my wonderful friend and fellow history lover Leigh (on Instagram @historic_leigh_speaking) for company.
After heading off to find somewhere to buy roses and a note to put with them on behalf of thousands of people who kindly follow my Queen Anne Boleyn Society all over the world and who would love to do this (my hand was shaking while writing it - although I must admit my handwriting isn’t the best anyway) we headed in to the Tower and off to the chapel.
It was pretty incredible to walk up to the altar and lay the flowers on Anne’s grave, especially as the chapel was so quiet we had it mostly to ourselves. I don’t know how long I spent knelt on the spot in this pic (it took a while for my knees to forgive me) and I don’t know if I can correctly describe how I was feeling during all of this. Afterwards, I posted the photos on my Anne Boleyn Society accounts and although I knew the response would be incredible, I never expected to be quite on the level it was. It went on to become the fastest and highest liked of all my posts. But what was so special was the lovely messages I received. People from all over the world thanking me for doing this and writing the note, as they felt I had included them, which was exactly what I intended. Messages from people saying how they would love to do something similar but may never get the chance for a number of reasons. This particularly moved me and made me realise just how powerful the reach of Anne Boleyn is. From all over the world in a number of countries and people of all ages I got messages from thanking me for this and telling me how they wished to be able to also do this someday. It is incredible to think that someone who died nearly 500 years ago, whose husband wanted all trace of her removed, has so many admirers around the world today. It just goes to show that Anne was an incredible woman and what a lovely community we all are.
In 2019 two of my biggest loves combined on my Birthday when I met Kylie Minogue at Hampton Court Palace and I learnt that dreams really do come true.
This wasn’t planned in advance, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, when she came to perform at the Music Festival. Kylie was incredibly lovely, warm and down to earth. She could see how starstruck I was, she opened her arms and asked for a hug.. yes I hugged her and she initiated. In my head I was like “KYLIE MINOGUE JUST SAID MY NAME AND ASKED ME FOR A HUG”. And I hugged Kylie and then she politely listened to me ramble on about how long I’ve been a fan of hers, how many times I’ve seen her live etc etc. She even thanked me - me - for being a fan, bless her.
That night as she opened the show she came onto the stage and looked directly at me (I was a few rows from the front) and she gave me a beautiful smile, and during that show she also thanked “the wonderful staff” at the palace.
The thought that not only did I see her live and meet her on my birthday, it was all at HCP, a place well connected to Queen Anne Boleyn (who had jointly planned the design of the palace along with Henry VIII).
I will forever be thankful to Kylie not only making my dream come true but for being so lovely to an awkward fan and for giving me something to hold onto when I’m at my lowest.
Also a message to everyone out there to never give up on your dreams
Thank you, James!
You can catch up with James at:
AnneBoleynSociety Facebook Page
AnneBoleynSociety Twitter Page
AnneBoleynSociety Instagram Page
And I recently interviewed James, along with Sandra Vasoli, about the Anne Boleyn falcon carving:
https://youtu.be/FSQ0ww6cAmo