Hampton Court Palace, one of six venues cared for by charity Historic Royal Palaces, last night (12 January) entertained 75 event professionals and DMCs at its modern day Tudor Tavern in King Henry VIII’s Undercroft.
Guests were met at London Waterloo station by a costumed guide who was on hand to set the scene for the evening and provide an insight into the history of the palace during their journey to Hampton Court Palace.
On arrival at the palace, a costumed Henry VIII greeted guests as they entered the Undercroft, which was once Henry’s beer cellar. Representatives from the events teams of Historic Royal Palaces’ other London venues were on hand to network with guests as they feasted on food with a Tudor twist courtesy of Ampersand Events.
Ampersand provided aptly named food stalls - ‘Who ate all the pies’ and the ‘King’s carvery table’ - along with a gin bar offering an array of drink options to be enjoyed throughout the evening.
The event culminated in one of the palace’s notorious ghost tours, which are available as an added extra to corporate events. Guests were delighted with the spooky stories of the palace, before being treated to a takeaway dessert on departure, which they could enjoy on the return coach trip to Waterloo station.
Jo Jennings, Events Manager at Hampton Court Palace, said, “This event, which was specifically targeted at DMCs, was a fantastic opportunity for us to increase the international reach of Historic Royal Palaces and inspire UK based DMCs to promote the potential of Hampton Court Palace to their clients abroad. Guest enjoyed being able to experience a modern day Tudor Tavern at the palace, as well as taking part in one of our popular ghost tours.
“We are lucky to be able to offer our fantastic palace to clients for all manner of corporate events, and we pride ourselves on being able to work with them to combine the history of the palace with a modern-day twist, which is exactly what we achieved with our own showcase event.”
Al Simpson, Senior Project Manager at Principal. Global Events and a guest on the night, said, “We had a wonderful evening of great food, drink and entertainment at Hampton Court Palace, hosted by the superb team at Historic Royal Palaces. The whole evening, from the transport to the ghost tour, really captured the spirit of the palace and its infamous history. We can’t wait to work with the team again in 2017.”
Suppliers on the night included Ampersand Events who provided catering and theming, Lavender Green Flowers who dressed the Tudor carts for the food stalls and provided wooden barrels filled with flowers, and HRP Event Solutions who provided all production on the night.
