Several views of Hampton Court Palace in the Regency period.

One of the most magnificent royal palaces, Hampton Court lies about one mile north of the village of Hampton on the banks of the Thames. Cardinal Wolsey built the original palace, and then presented it to Henry VIII in 1526. Henry later remodelled the palace, removing as many traces of Wolsey as he could (the cardinal and king by then having fallen out). Subsequent monarchs added to the palace (using a mixture of both good and bad taste ... Georgian commentators regarded the additions by William III as appalling), and it remains to this day one of the most beautiful palaces in Europe.