Step with me into a palace that no longer stands, yet once witnessed some of the most important Christmases of the Tudor age. In this episode of my Tudor Christmas Advent series, we journey to Richmond Palace, once known as Shene: a beloved winter residence of the Tudor monarchs, rebuilt by Henry VII after a devastating fire and transformed into one of the most elegant palaces of the dynasty. Although Richmond has almost entirely disappeared, surviving sketches, descriptions, and ground plans allow us to reconstruct it in our imagination - its great halls glowing with candlelight, greenery hung for Christmas, music echoing through long galleries, and the Thames mist curling around red-brick towers. This was a palace where:

• Henry VII celebrated Christmas with ceremony and splendour
• Henry VIII spent tense, politically charged winters during the Great Matter
• and Elizabeth I passed her final Christmas, bringing the Tudor dynasty quietly to a close

Richmond was not just a festive retreat — it was a stage for power, diplomacy, celebration, and endings. If you enjoy uncovering lost Tudor places, imagining historic Christmases, and exploring the quieter, more atmospheric side of royal history, this episode is for you. If Richmond Palace still stood today, would you want to walk its halls at Christmastime? Let me know in the comments. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and click the bell so you don’t miss the rest of my Tudor Christmas Advent series. #RichmondPalace #TudorChristmas #TudorHistory #LostPalaces #HenryVII #HenryVIII #ElizabethI #TheAnneBoleynFiles #TudorCourt

Christmas in Tudor England wasn’t just a season of feasting, music and Yule logs… it was also a time when the veil between worlds felt unusually thin. In today’s Tudor Christmas Advent episode, I’m stepping into the atmospheric world of real medieval and Tudor Yuletide superstitions - beliefs recorded in late medieval sermons, Tudor writings, and 16th-century accounts. These weren’t cosy Victorian myths or later folklore. They were ideas that shaped how people in the 1400s and 1500s experienced Christmas Eve itself, a night of wonder, fear, and expectation. In this video, I’ll share three of the strongest and most authentic Christmas superstitions from the period… and trust me, they’re haunting, surprising, and very revealing about Tudor beliefs. - Why did people avoid stables at midnight? - What did some fear they might see in a church porch? - And which spectral figure did Shakespeare expect his audience to recognise? Join me for a wonderfully eerie festive journey into Tudor England’s winter imagination. If you enjoy this darker corner of Tudor Christmas, please like, subscribe, and click the bell so you don’t miss the rest of my Advent series. And in the comments, tell me: Would YOU have been brave enough to test one of these superstitions at midnight? #TudorChristmas #TudorHistory #ChristmasHistory #MedievalFolklore #TudorSuperstitions #HistoryYouTube #TheAnneBoleynFiles #16thCentury #HistoryLovers #YuletideTraditions