As a gift to King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, Henry VIII erected a beautiful screen, the work of Renaissance Italian craftsmen. The work was carried out between 1533 and 1535 in the brief period when Anne Boleyn was Queen, and Henry’s royal crown surmounts their initials, which are shown linked together in the decoration.
Interestingly, on the day Anne was made Queen, the streets were lined with banners also showing their initials entwined. During their procession, those who despised Henry’s actions in removing Katherine of Aragon from her rightful position as Queen, were amused to read out the literal inscription, and shouted a dismissive ‘HA!’ as they passed.
Also in the King’s Chapel are other Tudor insignia, including the Beaufort portcullis, the Tudor rose and the greyhound and dragon, as well as fabulous stained glass and spectacular fan vaulting from the earlier period in which the chapel was built.
