12 May 2012
Wow! There’s an extraordinary exhibition at Lambeth Palace at the moment: taking us through their library of the Book of Common Prayer, you can peer through the glass at Richard III’s handwritten entry in his copy of the Book of Hours “On 2 October Richard King of England was born”; Henry VIII’s handwritten response on the front page of Invicta Veritas which sets out why he couldn’t divorce Catherine: “this is a load of rubbish” (in Latin!) and Charles I’s handwritten note to the Archbishop to include his children in national prayers. There’s something astonishing about looking at the handwritten notes of these men from centuries past – suddenly time dissolves and the men are standing before you. In fact it was actually hard to believe I was looking at the hand writing of Richard III – who incidentally I had never realised was only 30 when he became King. (Note to self: must find out the name of the Tudor courtier who lived to 100!) London is a palace of treasures!