Hello, I'm Lucy Worsley, chief curator at Historic Royal Palaces.

You're listening to our podcast that explores the history and stories of our six palaces.

These talks are a collection of some of our best live events.

I really hope you enjoy listening.

In this series of talks by renowned Tudor historians, we closely examined the monarch and man himself,

Henry D.8. These talks were recorded live in collaboration with history today to mark the 500th anniversary

of the coronation of Henry D. 8th. In this episode, historian Derek Wilson examines the Whitehall mural,

which is thought to display Henry's underlying insecurities about his father, Henry the 7th.

This image behind us, I guess, is the starting point for most people's thinking about Henry the 8th.

Here he stands, belligerent, defiant, the massive codpiece asserting his rility, the slender

legs affirming his athleticism, and hiding the ulcers already beginning to trouble him.

The padded shoulders drawing attention from his unhealthy girth, the

cap concealing his baldness. This propaganda image was, and always has been, highly effective.

Several copies were made at the time, but the image originated as part of a larger mural which Henry

commissioned for the Privy Chamber of Whitehall Palace in the spring of a larger mural which Henry commissioned for the privy chamber of

Whitehall Palace in the spring of 1537, which I hope this machine is going to show us.

Ah, good.

It depicts Henry with his father, mother and current wife Jane Seymour.

His long vanished and we only know it from this later copy, but the impact

of the original on those who saw it was profound. One early visitor described himself as being

almost annihilated by the overpowering image of the king. But I want to concentrate on a different

aspect of the group portrait and one which I believe

...