Greenwich Palace, built by Henry VII on the site of today’s Old Royal Naval College (ORNC), was transformed by Henry VIII into a sophisticated royal residence, modelling both its elaborate decoration and culture on the courts of France and Spain, with the emphasis on pleasure and ostentation.

Henry VIII added a tiltyard for jousting together with an armoury, kennels, stables, tennis courts and a cock pit. Inside, the Palace was decorated by the finest craftsmen; the renowned Swiss-born artist Hans Holbein was court painter and Englishman Thomas Tallis organist and composer. Henry’s daughters, both future queens, Mary and Elizabeth, were born at Greenwich, and it became Elizabeth’s favourite out-of-town residence.

Although Anne of Denmark (James I’s wife) commissioned the Queen’s House in 1615, Greenwich was less frequented by the Stuart kings and, by the mid-17th century, the riverside palace had fallen into disrepair.

The Tudor buildings were demolished in the 1660s to make way for Charles II’s new palace, which was intended to rival Versailles, the French monarch’s sumptuous palace. However, the King’s House (the first wing to be built) was never a royal residence.