The Spread Eagle Hotel and Spa, Midhurst, West Sussex

We visit the Old Palace of Hatfield, one of the most significant places in the life of Elizabeth I. It was here that the 3-month old princess was brought from London to establish her first household under the watchful eye of Sir John and Lady Shelton, the uncle and aunt of Anne Boleyn. Some twenty-five years later, it was reputedly while sitting under the gnarled oak tree in the Great Park at Hatfield that Princess Elizabeth heard of the death of her sister, Mary, and therefore of her accession to the throne of England.