Queen Anne Boleyn’s Falcon Badge Discovered At Auction
500 years after Anne Boleyn first met Henry VIII, a blackened oak carving of her heraldic badge has been discovered by an antiques expert.
Credit: Historic Royal Palaces
The discovery is remarkable, because Henry VIII famously removed almost all traces of his second queen following her execution in 1536.
Anne Boleyn was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII and is regarded as one of the most legendary figures in British history.
In 2019, Paul Fitzsimmons of Marhamchurch Antiques purchased the falcon at an auction for just £75.
Credit: Historic Royal Palaces
It was catalogued as an “antique carved wooden bird” when it was auctioned five years ago - Its true worth is now believed to be around £200,000.
The blackened oak carving of a crowned falcon atop a tree stump flowering with Tudor roses was covered in centuries of soot, grime and wax.
However, the exquisite and richly decorated artefact was in extraordinary condition.
Conservation saw the removal of a layer of black paint to reveal the original colouring of white, gold and red.
It was then brought to the attention of Tracy Borman, Joint Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces, and taken to Hampton Court Palace for further investigation.
After a meticulous examination, curators at Historic Royal Palaces consulted historical records of Henry VIII’s efforts to enhance Hampton Court and compared the discovered carving with surviving Tudor-era details.
Credit: Historic Royal Palaces
This investigation revealed that the falcon carving closely resembles the 43 remaining falcon badges that adorn the frieze above the windows and hammer beams in the Great Hall, suggesting it was part of the original Tudor design.
The Great Hall, at the heart of Hampton Court Palace, was built to showcase Henry VIII’s grandeur and authority.
The construction of the massive timber roof, the last great medieval hammerbeam-roof hall in England, began in 1532.
In celebration of his marriage to Anne Boleyn, her coat of arms, intertwined initials H and A, and her heraldic badge were incorporated into the Hall’s decor.
Following Anne’s downfall, the Hall inadvertently became a tribute to her legacy.
Historical records reveal that Michael Joyner was paid £5 4s 2d for 250 badges of the King and Queen, identifying the likely creator of the carving almost five centuries later.
Anne began using the white falcon as her emblem around the time she was made Marquess of Pembroke, just before her public marriage to Henry VIII in 1533.
Following her marriage and coronation, a new imperial falcon badge was introduced, incorporating a crown and sceptre.
This updated emblem, featuring Tudor and York roses growing from a dead tree stump, symbolised the new queen's fertility at the time of her marriage and her aspiration to wear the imperial crown that Henry promised during his separation from the Catholic Church.
Anne Boleyn was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII and is regarded as one of the most legendary figures in British history.
Her love-match with Henry VIII and her subsequent execution at the Tower of London after only three years of marriage have inspired dozens of books and films.
On the eve of her execution, according to the Constable of the Tower, Anne joked “I heard say the executioner was very good, and I have a little neck” before putting her hands around it and laughing heartily.
Henry had granted her the ‘small mercy’ of dying at the hands of a skilled swordsman rather than an executioner’s axe.
The execution of a queen for treason was an unprecedented event, and Henry and Cromwell ensured that it was carefully stage managed within the walls of the Tower, rather than at the public execution sites outside.
There would still be a substantial crowd of courtiers and Tower officials and inhabitants.
Today, Anne Boleyn’s falcon is on display in the Great Hall at Hampton Court Palace and is included in palace admission.
The palace is open to the public and a major tourist attraction, reached by train from Waterloo station in central London and served by Hampton Court railway station in East Molesey.
The structure and grounds are cared for by an independent charity, Historic Royal Palaces, which receives no funding from the Government or the Crown.
It’s an incredible place to visit with lots os historic significance.
During the Tudor period, the palace was the scene of many historic events.
In 1537, the king's much desired male heir, the future Edward VI, was born at the palace, and the child's mother, Jane Seymour, died there two weeks later.
Four years afterwards, whilst attending Mass in the palace's chapel, the king was informed of the adultery of his fifth wife, Catherine Howard.
She was then confined to her room for a few days before being sent to Syon House and then on to the Tower of London.
Legend claims she briefly escaped her guards and ran through The Haunted Gallery to beg Henry for her life but she was recaptured
Today, the palace houses many works of art and furnishings from the Royal Collection, mainly dating from the two principal periods of the palace's construction, the early Tudor (Renaissance) and the late Stuart to the early Georgian period.
In September 2015, the Royal Collection recorded 542 works (only those with images) as being located at Hampton Court, mostly paintings and furniture, but also ceramics and sculpture.
The full current list can be obtained from their website.
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