Having ummed and aaahed more than Henry VIII did over his spouse selections, authorities have approved the development opposite Hampton Court Palace. This was, you'll recall, the project for which an interjection from David Starkey caused a rethink amongst councillors. The scheme, on a derelict site adjacent to the Palace, will be a Georgian-style brick building, with another proposal for a white timber boathouse ruled out as not being sympathetic enough to the setting. Correction:......

A proposed development near Hampton Court Palace has exercised the ire of one of our foremost historians. David Starkey, considered something of an expert on Tudor times by dint of his copious books and television series on the subject, has thrown his chalice in with heritage groups who oppose the construction of a four-story hotel and flats complex opposite the Palace. The development would include 66 homes, a hotel, shops, and a new care......

For many of us, the idea of Knights will always be intrinsically linked to Monty Python and The Holy Grail. All those moments and dire rhymes in song ("We are Knights of the Round Table and we dance whenever we are able"; Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot; the Killer Bunny; "It's only a flesh wound" etc) make up a film of unparalleled importance in British comedy. Which now means that the mere mention of British......

73. A Gaggle Of Ghosts: Part Three London's dark history is littered with tales of eerie mysteries, and not many places harbour such weirdness as Hampton Court Palace, the most haunted royal residence in the capital. Stretching for over sixty acres, this beautiful structure, and its grounds, have been shared with the public since 1838, and many of these visitors I'm sure are very unaware of the spectres which reside within the vast hallways,......

Our weekly roundup of film reviews returns, courtesy of James Bryan… This week, royal bodice-ripper The Other Boleyn Girl, zombies ahoy in Diary of the Dead, multiple viewpoint assassination thriller Vantage Point and The Rock doing one for the kids in The Game Plan. Don’t expect to learn much history in The Other Boleyn Girl, a film James Christopher in the Times describes as a “ravishing piece of trash” in his 2-star review. The......

St James wine merchant Berry Brothers and Rudd could be considered as a family-run community corner shop. But when you consider that the family are eighth generation owners, their local community includes the Queen and Prince Charles, and even the ‘corner’ is formed from Henry VIII’s tennis court, you soon realise that this place is in no danger from supermarket encroachment. It's possibly the poshest corner shop in history. Londonist, lucky us, recently wangled......

Two shot at carnival. Fire crew counsel empty toilet. Will London get a marathon of malcontents? Mandela's in town to see his new statue unveiled. It says something good about London that we now have more public statues of the former South African president than we do of Henry VIII. Image courtesy of Dartar via the Londonist flickr group.......

This Week In London’s History Monday – 9th July 1968: The Hayward art gallery on the South Bank is opened by the Queen. Tuesday – 10th July 1958: Britain’s first parking meters are installed in Mayfair. Soon there would be 625 of them in the district, charging 6 pence per hour. Wednesday – 11th July 1848: Waterloo Station is opened. The original station would survive just 52 years until 1900, when it would be......

We have to admit when we first saw this advertised we didn't have much of an idea what to expect. Henry VIII certainly knew how to cut it with the ladies, but we reckoned that a re-enactment of His Majesty's finest chat-up lines was unlikely, particularly in the middle of a river. It turns out that the Tudor Pull is run by the Thames Traditional Rowing Association and features crews of six oarsmen rowing......

A tribute to the capital’s alleys, ginnels and snickleways 24. Artillery Passage Where? Surviving bastion of the Ripper's London in the heart of Spitalfields. What? The sickly lighting only adds to the troubling atmosphere of Artillery Passage. The short passage has changed little since the days of Jack the Ripper. His final victim, Mary Kelly was dissected just yards from the eastern end of Artillery Passage, where today a multistorey car park stands. Appropriately, someone......

This day in London’s History 1536 Henry VIII puts Anne Boleyn and her brother on trial in the Great Hall of the Tower, charged with pretty much everything in the book. She denies the charges. He denies the charges. His wife disagrees and testifies against them. Her lover, Henry Percy, sits on the jury. Their uncle, Thomas Howard, sentences them. Execution by beheading, two days later. At least they kept the whole thing in......

This day in London’s History 1542: Tower Hill. Kathryn Howard, or Cat Tudor to her friends, has an unfortunate encounter with an axe. After the execution, Henry VIII was heard to whisper unto Thomas Cranmer: ‘Well, that’ll save me a Guinea down at Thorntons. Christ’s beard, they don’t half mark-up their prices for Valentine’s Day’. London fact of the week If you walk down the long, musty passage between the Jubilee and Piccadilly Line......

Blanchard Jerrold and Gustave Doré London has been home to more double-acts than Great Yarmouth pier. Just off the top of the head, there’s Johnson & Boswell, the Adam Brothers, Holmes and Watson, the Krays, and recent North-London comedy duo Henry and Pires. Add to the mix the little-known Victorian pairing of Blanchard Jerrold and Gustave Doré, whose minor classic ‘London A Pilgrimage’ has just been re-released by Anthem Press. Londonist has wanted to......

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, and that London is, we admit, the coolest city on the face of the planet. So went the first draft of the US Declaration of Independence. Before old Jefferson got all enthusiastic with that red pen. We like to imagine. When it comes to the perennial and nonsense discussion about......

Quick update on the ‘Beast of the River Lea’. Earlier this month, we reported on the disappearance of wild birds in the east London river, attributed to some unseen force of nature. A long, long list of possible aquatic felons has been investigated. ‘Experts’ have blamed pretty much everything that lives on or near water, with the possible exception of Matthew Pinsent. But the culpability seems to have settled on something called the ‘alligator......

Earlier this week the BBC printed this piece of writing by Geoff Ryman. Ryman is the author of 253, a fantastic piece of fiction about the relationship between all the passengers on a single tube train. The article on the BBC encapsulated Ryman's views on the bombings of 7 July and offered some thoughtful and intelligent insights into the aftermath of the events. After reading the article, Londonist contributors decided to draw up a......