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Anne Boleyn’s carved falcon badge on display at Hampton Court Palace to mark 500^th anniversary of her first encounter with Henry VIII, following new research linking rare architectural survival to palace’s Great Hall

Queen Anne Boleyn’s falcon badge on show from 4 March 2022

She is one of the most legendary figures in British history, whose story still captivates audiences five centuries after her execution. Now, exactly 500 years to the day since she is first recorded as appearing before her future husband – playing the role of Perseverance in a court masque – her carved heraldic badge goes on show at Hampton Court Palace, where experts now believe it to have once formed part of the building’s famous interiors.

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A wooden bird bought for £75 belonged to the second wife of Henry VIII, a Devon antiques dealer has said. The carved oak falcon, about 21cm sq, belonged to Anne Boleyn, the ill-fated queen and mother of Elizabeth I.

Paul Fitzsimmons, of Marhamchurch Antiques in Buckfastleigh, said he bought it in an auction because “I knew it had something” and it was a “wonderful find”.

He has offered for the bird to go on display at Hampton Court Palace.

Discovering Dennis: The Search for Thomas Dennis among the Artisans of Exeter was a previous exhibition curated by Marhamchurch Antiques, held at Exeter’s Guildhall in 2009. The show exhibited twenty-four rediscovered oak furniture pieces that were designed in the style of Thomas Dennis, the renowned West-Country joiner and carver of the seventeenth century. Along with items from his workshop and circle. 

To purchase a catalogue from this exhibition please contact us on +44(0) 7779038891 
£10 including UK postage, and £15 for international sales.