The Waleses love Anmer Hall – and this Christmas they’re back in Norfolk. But do the children know that their mansion is haunted by the rattling bones of a Jesuit martyr (who was hanged, drawn and quartered near the traffic island at Marble Arch)?
No Christmas is complete without a ghost story to tell – and who better to surprise the assembled royal family at Sandringham with their own spooky tale of things that go on in the night than the Prince and Princess of Wales?
For their Norfolk home, Anmer Hall – just a few miles down the road from the grand house where Charles will spend his second Christmas as king – has a spirit of its own.
The ghost of Jesuit martyr Henry Walpole is said to haunt the red-brick mansion. He was born on the grounds of Anmer in the 16th century – and it was to Anmer he returned when on the run from the agents of the Crown.
Walpole came to a particularly sticky end, making him an ideal member of the fearsome brotherhood: he was tortured on the rack before being hanged, drawn and quartered, ending his days in 1595 before being canonized for his troubles.
King Charles III and Prince William and his family attend the Christmas Day service at Sandringham Church
Anmer Hall on the Royal Sandringham Estate, the Norfolk family home of Prince William, Kate and the children
It is said that the ghost of Henry Walpole, born in Anmer in the 16th century, haunts the red-brick mansion
The Waleses were warned about the ghost of Walpole before moving to Anmer in 2014, a wedding gift from the Queen.
“It didn’t deter them; they were joking about it,” a friend said at the time. “But their attitude was: no old house would be complete without his spirit.”
Ghost indeed. When the Norfolk wind blows you can hear old Henry calling.
The house where he was born in 1558 has largely disappeared.
But since his bloody death, his ghost is said to still haunt the building and its surroundings.
The Welsh have lived there since a £1.5 million renovation in 2014, although their visits have become less frequent following the death of Queen Elizabeth and their decision to make Adelaide Cottage in the grounds of Windsor Castle their main residence.
However, Anmer is still their favorite place, even with a ghost in tow. And with Sandringham packed with guests this Christmas, including Camilla’s children, it’s likely the Waleses will spend time at their country home.
Walpole was a follower of Edmund Campion, the Roman Catholic priest sanctified for his work in trying to preserve the ‘old religion’, which had been persecuted since King Henry VIII’s break with Rome in the 1930s. the fifteenth century.
When Campion was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn – the gallows stood where Marble Arch now stands – Walpole continued his mentor’s work in the fight to preserve Roman Catholicism.
Walpole even wrote an epic poem about him, a matter so serious that the publisher cut off his ears for daring to print it.
Edmund Campion, a Jesuit martyr, was Walpole’s Catholic mentor, whose ghost haunts Anmer
Walpole was executed at the age of 37 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. He was tortured on the rack in the Tower of London before being hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn
The Waleses have lived at Anmer Hall since a £1.5 million renovation was completed in 2014
Sandringham House itself is touched by the spirit world. There is said to be a ghost in one of the upstairs hallways, which appears on Christmas Eve and lingers for several weeks
Walpole was executed during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII, after first being tortured on the rack in the Tower of London for refusing to deny his Catholic faith.
In an attempt to escape his persecutors, he had previously hidden in Anmer Hall in the hope of outwitting the men who eventually captured and murdered him.
He was tortured so severely that after his death it was agreed that the rack was no longer a legitimate tool for extracting confessions.
Walpole’s story is both grim and heroic, full of the fanaticism and deceit of the times.
The fact that Queen Elizabeth’s descendants live in his old home will likely make Henry’s bones rattle extra loudly this Christmas season.
But Alan Murdie, chairman of the long-standing Ghost Club – past members include famous names such as Charles Dickens and the First World War poet Siegfried Sassoon – suggests Prince William will be used to ghosts walking around.
He reveals that there are quite a few royal ghosts.
‘For example, although Buckingham Palace is a relatively new building, it stands on monastery land.
‘Henry VIII abolished the monasteries, and to this day the ghost of a monk appears on the terrace of the palace on Christmas Day.
‘Maybe that’s why the royals prefer to spend the holidays at Sandringham!’
Around Windsor Castle, expect the sound of a hunter’s horn and the barking of hounds on Christmas Eve.
“This is the day that Herne the Hunter, a character who first appears in Shakespeare, leads a pack of hounds through Windsor Great Park,” says Mr. Murdie, an experienced ghostbuster.
Buckingham Palace is a relatively new building, but is located on monastery grounds. To this day, it is said that on Christmas Day the ghost of a monk appears on the terrace
“It is better not to listen too intently, because if you hear his horn, it could be an omen of coming calamities on a national or international scale.”
Even Sandringham House itself is not immune. According to Mr. Murdie, there is a ghost in one of the upstairs hallways that appears on Christmas Eve and lingers for several weeks.
There have been instances of linens being pulled off beds and other poltergeist-like activities taking place, as well as heavy breathing sounds.
These can of course be attributed to something completely different. But it’s Christmas – let’s not go there!