For viewers enjoying the Showtime hit "The Tudors", reality is thriving at Hampton Court Palace, the real-life palace setting for King Henry VIII.


Opening June 28, 2007, visitors can see this famous residence where the authentic story of Henry's reign is documented in a new and permanent exhibition. The exhibit tells the story of what really happened during the early years of Henry's reign.


Visitors walk through the Tudor kitchens where Henry and his Court dined and entertained. The Tudor kitchens are the only remaining of their kind in Europe and were re-presented in mid-2006. The complex was a huge production line that housed a large and skilled production team distributed throughout the 55 rooms, covering around 36,000 square feet. Using sound, light, smell, and a stunning array of recreated sixteenth century kitchen equipment, the kitchens demonstrate how such an enormous Court was fed in Royal style.


Live cookery events with food archaeologists experimenting in the kitchens with Tudor recipes, ingredients, utensils and traditional cooking methods, preparing a typical meal, and giving visitors an exclusive look at the historic kitchens up-and-running as they would have been used when King Henry VIII lived at the palace.


Additional facts about King Henry VIII:


Prince Henry was proclaimed King Henry VIII, at the age of 17, the day after his father died, April 22, 1509. He was 17.


Henry VIII married Katherine of Aragon on June 11, 1509 at the Franciscan church at Greenwich Palace. She was 23.


Anne Boleyn miscarried on the day Katherine of Aragon was buried.


Henry's last wife, Kateryn Parr, was probably named after his first wife, Katherine of Aragon, her godmother.