Royal Palaces

If there is one palace, above all others, associated with Queen Elizabeth I then it is The Old Palace of Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Queen Elizabeth spent much of her youth here and it was one of her favourite residences before she became queen. Indeed, she was at Hatfield Palace when she received news of her accession to the throne in 1558. Legend has it the princess was sitting beneath an oak tree in the garden.

The old palace was built in the reign of King Henry VII, by John Morton, Bishop of Ely, but following the Reformation fell into King Henry VIII's hands. His son, King Edward VI, also spent time here as a child.

Not much remains of the old palace, as it was demolished by Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, in the early seventeenth century, but fortunately the great hall, where Queen Elizabeth held her first Council of State, still survives.

See inside the great hall of the old palace courtesy of the youtube video above from Virtual Tourist