Hampton Court Palace - my favourite place...

... and an endless source of inspiration.

A close friend and I walk our dogs daily around the park or down to the sea. I tend to witter on about what I'm writing, how far I've got, plot difficulties and Hampton Court Palace. So it wasn't surprising that we decided to have a couple of days in London to visit my favourite place and where I feel so at home.

I am fortunate in my friends and even more fortunate that another of them lives 4 miles from the palace so we had a bed for the night and a fabulous dinner waiting for us at the end of the day.

When we walked into the Great Watching Chamber, we discovered "Katherine Parr" debating with her aunt about the marriage proposal she had just received from "Henry VIII". A thought provoking debate on the views of those times about what marriage really meant. Love didn't enter into the equation at all, but what Katherine could do to be a mother to Henry's children and the advancement of her family were very high on the list. At length, Katherine asked the spectators what we thought. Nobody seemed anxious to reply so I jumped in with my opinion that she would be a true helpmeet to the King in his difficult task of running the country. Encouraged by this, the discussion broadened into the personal - how would she put up with Henry's ulcerated leg and what about the wishes of her heart. She agreed to think on it. We began to disperse, but Katherine's aunt button-holed us and said that the King himself wished to consult with us in an hour on the matter.

Meeting Henry, even though I knew he was an actor, was quite scary. He explained that he needed us to talk to Katherine and persuade her that he loved her. I got landed with this bit along with two other ladies, one of whom had to say what a great mother she would make to Henry's children and the second how much he could advance her family. We all entered into this with gusto and I especially loved using the language of the period. Well into my stride, who should interrupt us but "Thomas Seymour" - the man Katherine really loved and who she would marry when Henry died. He was trying to persuade her to marry him instead of Henry. I loved this and immediately got into an argument with him about how he 'had ever been a schemer and spent most evenings in the tavern soused in drink'.

The final scene was when we were summoned to the Council Chamber where Henry asked Katherine to come and speak to him. He explained that he must be sure he had the people on his side in asking her to marry him. Katherine was brilliant and extremely emotional when she said yes. Thomas Seymour was the gentleman in attendance on Henry so he heard her decision and was suitably heartbroken.

I must pay a huge tribute to Hampton Court and Henry, Katherine and Thomas for making our day so memorable and enjoyable. I know my Tudor history quite well and I have always had a flair for the dramatic, so I just went with the flow. One of the other ladies paid me the tremendous compliment of saying that my involvement had helped make the day very special for her.

Needless to say, as we walked round, I pointed out to my friend the places in my Luke Ballard series, shortly to be published by Carina Press. Where my apothecary lives, where the secret passage between the palace and the Royal Mews begins, where the water gate is, the river path Luke often walks when he is troubled. There is a conduit under the palace and there was a water gate, but the rest lives in my imagination and on the page.

In between the scenes with the royal couple, we looked around the rest of the palace including the amazing kitchens and the suite that had been occupied by Cardinal Wolsey when he owned it and the Chapel Royal. I wished, as I always wish when I see this fantastic Tudor building, that we could still visit Henry VIII's apartments. His Great Watching Chamber is still there, but just imagine how incredible it would be to walk through his Presence Chamber and into his Privy Chamber. I would love to see the room where Jane Seymour gave birth to Edward VI. I believe there are around 1000 rooms in the palace and only about 100 of them are open to the public. Alas, most are too fragile to have so many feet tramping through them and, as always, the health and safety of the public cannot be compromised. So I have a Plan B. If the Luke Ballard books take off, I'm going to ask Hampton Court if I can join their re-enactment staff and move south.