Where to Get Good Knight’s Sleep

Queen Elizabeth will be taking in paying guests next year, but visitors won’t be bumping into the monarch at breakfast.

Two big rooms are being renovated at Hampton Court Palace southwest of London. It is the first time rooms will be offered in a royal palace. Hampton Court is no longer used as a residence.

Cardinal Wolsey built Hampton Court in the 16th Century to accommodate 280 guests and a staff of 500. In 1529, when his position was shaky, he gave the palace to King Henry VIII in an attempt to curry favor.

Henry seized all of Wolsey’s possessions and set to work expanding Hampton Court. Five of his six wives lived at the palace. The emblems and initials of Anne Boleyn--wife No. 2--are carved in the great hall.

Queen Victoria opened Hampton Court to the public in the 19th Century.