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 examine the monarch and man himself,

Henry VIII. 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 Jesse Charles

advises us what not to do at the court of Henry

the eighth in order to keep your head.

Poets wrote that Henry the Eighth's court was a slippery place, and they wrote from experience.

Sir Thomas Wyatt was arrested three times and just managed to keep his head. Henry Howard, Earl Sir Thomas Wirt was arrested three times

and just managed to keep his head.

Henry Howard Earl of Surrey was arrested four times and didn't.

In fact, if you're looking for an example of exactly what not to do at Henry VIII's court,

then Surrey's your man.

He may have been a fabulous poet and a brave soldier,

but he was a spectacularly awful courtier.

How do you keep your head at Henry VIII's court? Don't do what Surrey did. Don't, for example, shed blood there, as Surrey did in 1537. Here at Hampton Court, perhaps in this very room, who knows, let's pretend, he assorted a courtier

and he was very lucky not to have his right arm amputated, which was the standard punishment

for such an offence. Don't, as Surrey did in 1543, rampage through the city of London, smashing

windows and firing missiles at prostitutes.

Don't advise your sister to become Henry VIII's mistress, especially not when your first cousins are the late Queen's Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard.

...