Each year, The National Archives and Hampton Court Palace join together for a very special event: a Right Royal Joust. Pupils begin the day at The National Archives researching original documents kept here on entertainments at the court of Henry VIII.
One of the documents contains the script of an original Tudor Court Masque, a play written by John Skelton for Henry VIII and based on the Wars of the Roses. The pupils are divided into two groups. One group reads the play and acts out parts in it using masques. In the other group, pupils make some of the props and decorations that are needed for the performance.
Two pupils are also required to represent the Houses of York and Lancaster. They will start the performance with a mock joust to represent the Battle of Bosworth Field, which ended the Wars of the Roses.
After learning and rehearsing the play in the morning, we travel from The National Archives by your coach to Kingston Pier to catch a boat to Hampton Court Palace - just as Henry VIII would have travelled there! This is also your opportunity to eat lunch.
On arrival at Hampton Court Palace, pupils will have the opportunity to rehearse the Masque for the final time, before taking part in one of the palace's education workshops on an aspect of Henry VIII and life at Hampton Court. They will then be taken to the Great Hall, where they will perform the masque in its original setting - an amazing opportunity to bring a piece of history back to life.
Session options
This session can be delivered as a
Workshop
