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00:00The Tower of London, a world-famous historic monument.
00:05There will be stories about murders!
00:09Over its thousand years of history, everyone who's anyone has passed through its gates.
00:15King Richard III!
00:16Catherine Howard!
00:17King Henry VIII declared!
00:18My darling Anne, I will love you for the rest of your life!
00:24Cheeky!
00:26And this year, it's non-stop.
00:29Oh!
00:30With grand commemorations...
00:32Jumping, Jiminy!
00:34...at the ancient fortress, including a royal visit.
00:38I truly think that Her Majesty will be moved.
00:40We've got a ringside seat to see it all unfold.
00:43Oh, my gosh.
00:44While its dedicated staff...
00:46High five!
00:47Yeah!
00:48...work to keep everything on track.
00:50You know this is the queue for the toilet, don't you?
00:52No, I'm not feeding you any more, no.
00:55In this episode...
00:57Beeper!
00:58It's the biggest day of the year for the team, as the Queen officially opens the tower's poppy installation.
01:03I can't help feeling a little bit nervous about this. You never know what might happen.
01:07A young resident at the fortress prepares for a once-in-a-lifetime encounter with Her Majesty.
01:13I've been practising my bow. Would you like to see my bow?
01:20And we reveal exactly why Henry VIII had his own uncle locked up.
01:24He loved Arthur. He imprisoned him in a cold, dark cell.
01:29Welcome to the secret world of the Tower of London.
01:41Welcome to His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, the Tower of London.
01:45From its earliest days, the Tower has welcomed royalty, beginning with William the Conqueror in the 11th century.
01:52And it was here in 1078 that he authorised the building of his first royal palace and fortress in England.
01:58And through the reigns of some of our most notorious monarchs.
02:03It was at that very archway that King Henry VIII waited very patiently for bride number two, Anne Boleyn,
02:10the night before her coronation to become our Queen of England.
02:15Although no longer living at the Tower, royals still like to pop in.
02:20The late Queen's final visit to the Tower was in 2014,
02:24to see its incredible installation of almost 900,000 ceramic poppies,
02:29marking the centenary of World War I.
02:33Now, over a decade later,
02:35nearly 30,000 of those flowers have returned to the fortress
02:39to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Second World War.
02:43And after months of hard work,
02:45the Tower's biggest project of the year is almost ready to be unveiled.
02:50Yeoman jailer Clive Tal is looking forward to the big day.
02:57People came from right across the world to see those poppies.
02:59If it's anything like the success of 2014, it will be amazing.
03:04And word is spreading around the Tower
03:06about who will be coming for the official opening tomorrow.
03:11The very exciting news is we now know the VVIP who's going to be opening the display
03:15and it will be Her Majesty the Queen, Queen Camilla.
03:18We'll come here and do it.
03:19We are super excited about that.
03:21You know, she's a very, very nice lady
03:23and we're all hoping to meet her.
03:25In their long military careers,
03:27many of the beef-eaters have spent time with the royal family,
03:30but nothing beats a visit to the fortress.
03:33Happy birthday.
03:34It's always exciting when one of the royal family attend the Tower.
03:37The public see the Yeoman walking around with our swords,
03:40our partisans, our shiny red uniforms,
03:42we've got our medals on.
03:43Tomorrow is particularly special as it will mark Camilla's first visit as Queen.
03:49Back in 2020, when she was the Duchess of Cornwall,
03:52she and Prince Charles celebrated the 535th birthday of the Yeoman Warders.
03:58It was a wonderful memory for Yeoman Warder A.J. Clarke.
04:03We had a lovely group photo, quite informal actually,
04:06with His Royal Highness stood in the middle.
04:09And A.J. is lucky enough to have a starring role in tomorrow's visit too.
04:14I will be part of that little guard of honour, which I'm very excited about.
04:19I'll be opening one of the car doors, very important job.
04:23So, yeah, I'm really excited about that.
04:27In his office, Governor of the Tower Brigadier Andrew Jackson
04:31has taken out a unique record.
04:34So, in front of me I have the Tower Visitors book,
04:37one of our pieces of recent history.
04:39This particular one goes back to 2014,
04:41and it records all the special occasions that have happened here
04:44and the people and the very important visitors that we've had.
04:47The Queen will be adding her name tomorrow.
04:50By the right.
04:52As well as her visit,
04:53there's a whole array of spectacular events planned.
04:56This is going to be a really busy day at the Tower of London.
04:59We have a gun salute.
05:01We then have Her Majesty the Queen coming to plant the last poppy
05:05as part of the installation.
05:07And in the evening we have the official opening event,
05:10readings and music,
05:12remembering what happened in the Tower during the Second World War.
05:16Coordinating all this without any hiccups,
05:19with the hordes of daily visitors,
05:21will be an enormous challenge for the team.
05:23Everybody's really excited about it.
05:25It doesn't happen very often.
05:27We've got to make sure everything runs really smoothly.
05:31The yeoman body will be central to the success of the royal visit.
05:35After all, the Tower is not just where they work.
05:38They live here as part of their job, guarding the Crown Jewels.
05:43So if you look around here, you'll see all these homes.
05:45These are where we live with our families.
05:47So there are 35 of us on duty here.
05:49All of our extended family is with us.
05:50So in total, probably about 130 people that actually live in the village.
05:54I talk about living next door to the bloody town.
05:58Some people might find that a little bit scary,
06:00and hence why I haven't got a boyfriend currently.
06:02But my son's bedroom window is just there,
06:03and he looks out into the execution site
06:05when he opens his curtains in the morning.
06:06Hence why he's got a really tidy bedroom.
06:10Hi, buddy. So how was today at school? What did you do?
06:13So I did some PE today.
06:16Yeoman warder Tracey Machin lives in the fortress
06:19with her five-year-old son, Harrison.
06:21He's been chosen to play a very special role
06:24in the Queen's visit tomorrow.
06:26Wow, this lot!
06:28He's going to plant one of the final poppies alongside the Queen,
06:33and he's been putting in some practice for the big day.
06:36Can you see how many extra poppies have now been planted, Harrison?
06:42Mm-hmm.
06:43So many.
06:44How do you feel about meeting the Queen?
06:48So exciting.
06:49Are you?
06:50So I've already polished my shoes.
06:52Amazing!
06:54Good job.
06:55He's very excited about how shiny his shoes are.
06:57He may well tell the Queen that he's polished them,
06:59especially for the event.
07:01It's such a huge honour and a privilege to get to do this.
07:04If you speak to any yeoman warder and you ask us
07:06why we wanted to become a yeoman warder in the first place,
07:09for me, my absolute number one reason was my little boy, Harrison.
07:13The fact he would get to grow up living in a castle.
07:16He lives here, and now he's getting to do this.
07:18It is so special, and I honestly, bursting with pride.
07:22The exact details of the Queen's visit haven't been publicised,
07:25and for Harrison, it seems the biggest challenge
07:28has been keeping shtum about his starring role.
07:31I had to keep it as a secret at school.
07:35It's very, very hard to keep, like, secrets
07:40when they're so exciting.
07:43But will all his hard work pay off
07:45when he's face to face with royalty?
07:48He's quite a confident little boy.
07:50He can say anything to the Queen, so fingers crossed.
07:53It is good.
07:54I've been having lots of chats to make sure that he says
07:57only appropriate answers to any questions you might ask him.
08:04Coming up, will the ravens behave themselves
08:07ahead of the Queen's visit?
08:08Oh, that's the wrong direction, dude.
08:10That's it, buddy. This way.
08:12Ah!
08:13And it's the moment of truth for the poppy display.
08:16I'd slightly have a nightmare that I was going to come in this morning
08:18and the whole thing would have fallen down.
08:28Do you have a high five?
08:30Yeah!
08:31Nice one.
08:32Excellent.
08:33Excitement is mounting at the Tower
08:35as preparations for the Queen's visit tomorrow pick up pace.
08:3924 hours before the Queen's arrival,
08:42Brigadier Andrew Jackson, Governor of the Tower,
08:45heads to the South Lawn to check the display.
08:49As well as the poppies,
08:50the Tower has had another work specially created for the occasion.
08:55As part of our installation,
08:56we've commissioned the Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage,
08:59to write a poem on the theme of the poppies
09:02and on the theme of remembrance.
09:04Simon Armitage will be reading his poem to the Queen,
09:09veterans and other guests tomorrow.
09:13As Poet Laureate, his role is to mark national events.
09:17The laureateship is a royal appointment,
09:20so I suppose there's an automatic connection with the Tower of London.
09:25I think there's more pressure with this poem
09:27than on many others I've written,
09:29partly for the fact that there's been a lot of poetry
09:31about commemoration in relation to war.
09:34Also, I'll be reading the poem in front of the Queen,
09:38so a little bit of pressure there not to fluff my lines.
09:42There's some little voice in my mind saying,
09:44if I get this wrong, I might get my head chopped off.
09:50The poppies have been a source of inspiration
09:52and are at the very heart of Simon's poem.
09:55I started with this list of words,
09:58just walking round, collecting words.
10:01So if you think of the poem as a cake,
10:04these are the ingredients.
10:05Frail, spindly, souls, lost souls, dangly, wiry.
10:11I was thinking of the frailty of the poppy petal.
10:15I am pleased with this poem.
10:18I hope that it will do the job that it's meant to do.
10:24But really, you know, I can't do anything more for it now.
10:27It will have to live or die by its own devices.
10:33Remembering the sacrifices made in the war
10:35is important to the Tower's yeoman warders.
10:38They are all veterans themselves.
10:41And many, like Terry Briggs,
10:43have family members who fought in World War II.
10:47My great-uncle Albert,
10:48he served in the Royal Artillery overseas
10:50during the Second World War.
10:53He landed on D-Day,
10:54and he would have gone across on one of the boats.
10:57When he actually arrived on D-Day on the beaches,
11:00there was people being shot and people around him.
11:03It must have been a very horrific sight.
11:06I can't imagine how he must have felt at that time.
11:12He actually kept some diaries,
11:14and I've been fortunate enough
11:16to have a little read through the diaries
11:18and see some of the pictures.
11:20He's talking about walking through these forests
11:22with his battalion and coming under fire.
11:26He tried to put a bit of a joke to it to his wife,
11:29but really the truth was it was probably a lot harder
11:32and a lot scarier than he actually wrote in the diaries.
11:35This diary has got a great entry,
11:41and it actually says Germany surrendered 2.41 a.m.
11:45And then the next entry is Winston Churchill 3 p.m. to address the nation.
11:51That momentous event is now marked by VE Day,
11:57or Victory in Europe Day, every year on the 8th of May.
12:01In 1945, celebrations erupted on the streets of Britain,
12:05as the nation rejoiced at the end of nearly six years of conflict,
12:09and the royal family greeted the cheering crowds.
12:13The Tower of London was illuminated with floodlights to honour the occasion.
12:19Thankfully, my Uncle Albert, he came home.
12:22He was one of the many that survived,
12:24but sadly, probably some of his friends and many, many didn't make it back.
12:29So, we must still remember the sacrifice that they made for us.
12:38All right, folks, we're going to close now shortly.
12:40It's 5.30, and the tower is now closed to the public.
12:47There's lots to do to prepare for the royal visit tomorrow.
12:50But the first job is getting the resident ravens to bed.
12:55This tricky task has fallen to yeoman warder Tracey Machen.
13:00It's the first time by myself, so hopefully they behave.
13:04Knowing these birds, it's going to be anything but simple.
13:08I'm going to be just a bit more like I'm a human sheepdog,
13:10and I'm going to shepherd them down into their cages.
13:14Fortunately for Tracey,
13:16two ravens are already tucked up for the night,
13:19and she's spotted another one.
13:21We've got Edgar up there.
13:23Good evening, Edgar.
13:24Are you going to come down, buddy?
13:26Come on, Poppet.
13:27Are you going to come down?
13:30That's him down on the ground.
13:32It's a nightly game of hide-and-seek for Tracey and her colleagues.
13:37Georgie, do you believe?
13:40But sometimes the only way to coax them back into their cages
13:43is with dinner.
13:45Poppy and Chaos have come in by themselves already.
13:48Four down, four to go.
13:52So that looks like it's Georgie and Harris.
13:56You two going to come down?
14:00Georgie, come on, follow Harris.
14:03Down you go.
14:05And Tracey knows Jubilee's favourite haunt.
14:09That's it, buddy. This way.
14:11Down you go.
14:12Good boy.
14:14Oh, man.
14:19After nearly 40 minutes of cat-and-mouse games,
14:22Tracey manages to usher the last couple of ravens
14:25into the enclosure for the night.
14:28Good night, buddy. Sleep well.
14:30So the ravens are in bed, Harrison's in bed,
14:32and soon it's going to be my turn for a good night's sleep,
14:35ready for all of the excitement and activities tomorrow.
14:47It's early morning on the 6th of May,
14:50and it's all hands on deck.
14:52The tower is being spruced up for a momentous day ahead.
14:56Deputy Governor Anna Kimber is responsible
14:59for the smooth running of all the events.
15:02It's a busy day.
15:03So we've got the first of three major things
15:05that are happening today.
15:06So we're about to go and have a gun salute
15:09for the anniversary of the King's coronation.
15:12Then we've got the royal visit from the Queen,
15:15and then we've got a big launch event
15:16to launch the pop installation,
15:18which is starting the seedling.
15:20So from here on in,
15:21it's rolling from one to the other to the other.
15:24So that's it.
15:25We're on the ride now.
15:26There's no getting off.
15:28The centrepiece of today's events
15:30is the poppy display.
15:32For project manager Ali Richardson,
15:34in charge of installing the poppies,
15:36it is a culmination of months of hard work.
15:40I have to say I'm a little bit nervous.
15:42I did slightly have a nightmare
15:43that I was going to come in this morning
15:44and the whole thing would have fallen down.
15:46But I think that was just my anxiety
15:48rather than anything else.
15:49It's been a very intense couple of months.
15:51It looks amazing.
15:52I'm very pleased with it.
15:54The Queen will be adding to the installation later.
15:58The poppy that she's planting is up on my desk.
16:00I've got to just make sure that the stem is not too dirty.
16:04OK, perfect. Thank you so much.
16:06It's also the biggest day of the year
16:07for historic Royal Palace's media and PR manager...
16:10Someone's on their way.
16:12Sophie Lemonyen.
16:14Today's press day for the poppies opening.
16:17So big day.
16:18We've got nearly 100 media coming.
16:20So it's going to be pretty busy.
16:21Fab.
16:22So are you able to help with voices?
16:23Is that OK?
16:24Braille.
16:25So Channel 5 through there.
16:26I didn't sleep a lot last night,
16:28but really exciting now
16:29because we've been working on this for months
16:31and just really excited to unveil it to media
16:34and see what they think.
16:36Running a press event as the Tower prepares
16:38for a Royal visit poses some potential problems.
16:41We've got lots of live broadcasts today,
16:43so that comes with its own challenges.
16:45In the morning we've got the leaf blowers on,
16:47the lawn mowers, everything like that,
16:49getting us ready for today.
16:50And then from 9 o'clock we'll have the public here as well.
16:53So it's going to be busy.
16:54BBC.
16:55Lots going on.
16:56Lots of different noise.
16:57So hopefully everyone can just kind of work around it.
16:59So that's the bit that makes me a bit nervous.
17:02Yeah, is that all good?
17:03Despite the extraordinary events happening today,
17:08the Tower is open to the public as usual.
17:11The details of the Queen's visit have been kept under wraps,
17:14so lots of the visitors streaming through the gates
17:17have no idea that royalty will be in their midst.
17:21Yeoman Warder AJ is already in position on the causeway.
17:26Excuse me, can you just move to the side for me?
17:28Thank you, my love.
17:29Got a lot going on at the Tower of London.
17:31This is the start of the celebrations of today.
17:34By coincidence, the Queen's unveiling of the poppy display
17:37falls on the same day as the anniversary of her
17:40and King Charles' coronation.
17:42A gun salute is taking place to celebrate.
17:46The Tower place hosts around six of them a year
17:49to commemorate important state occasions.
17:52My favourite part is actually watching the guns come in.
17:56The salute, fired from three ceremonial guns,
17:59is carried out by the Honourable Artillery Company,
18:02one of the oldest regiments in the British Army.
18:06So that's the master gunner.
18:09So he's going to go up to the King's house.
18:12He's going to meet up with the dignitaries.
18:14Guns are just forming up now,
18:16and then it's just waiting for the clock.
18:18So we're well on time, which is nice.
18:26So this is the anticipation part now,
18:27where we're just waiting for everybody to be in place,
18:30and the master gunner will be coming down.
18:33The guns will be fired precisely to time.
18:36So these are the timekeepers that are just marching on now.
18:39Each will have a watch.
18:41So at one o'clock, the first round will go on the bang of Big Ben.
18:45As one o'clock draws nearer,
18:48the senior figures take their positions.
18:52So on parade now is the constable of the Tower,
18:55the governor, the deputy governor, and Roger, our Padre.
18:58So now they're all formed up.
19:00They're the official officers of the Tower.
19:03The guns are prepared for the first round.
19:07Everybody's just making sure that air defence are in.
19:10Last check of the earplugs.
19:13They each lift their arm to show clear.
19:17So they're making sure the guns are safe to fire.
19:20The arm is up. Number one gun.
19:23Fire.
19:25That's the first round.
19:26They've picked up the round.
19:28They show that it's a blank.
19:30Number two gun. Fire.
19:32They then cut off the charge
19:33and push it into the gun barrel.
19:35Gun barrel is sealed.
19:37And then number three gun.
19:39Arm up. Fire.
19:41And it runs like clockwork.
19:44This will continue now every ten seconds
19:46until the 62 guns have been fired.
19:5021 rounds from the city.
19:5321 rounds for the occasion.
19:55And then 20 rounds, the Tower of London as a gift.
19:58Go!
19:59Come on!
20:00Come on!
20:02Come on!
20:04Come on!
20:05Come on!
20:06Come on.
20:08This is just part one of a very exciting three-parts day
20:10for us here at the Tower of London, so part one, box ticked.
20:14of london so part one box ticked ready to head off now get changed ready for part two for the
20:21extravaganza of her majesty coming up final countdown to the queen's arrival will it all go
20:27to plan we'll just roll with whatever hits us and keep our fingers crossed and it's time for harrison's
20:33big moment do you think you're gonna be able to stand nice and still yeah it's tough isn't it
20:39it's a very busy day at the tower of london a gun salute to mark the king's coronation has thrilled
20:50the visitors as the crowd disperses most of them are unaware that the best is yet to come
20:57royalty is on its way yeoman warder aj is poised to welcome queen camilla it all starts with my job
21:04making sure the car door is open it's very exciting i'm a little bit nervous actually
21:10there is a protocol to open the door i've got to salute her majesty and make sure that she's fully
21:17clear of the vehicle before we close the door so we don't trap any fingers toes or dresses
21:23aj's boss yeoman jailer clive towel has some last minute tips would you do that when i saw something
21:30the other day on the internet they just went like that open doors nice and sharp and then they've
21:34straight away and just held it to the clear and then we look at each other and just go down
21:40shut the doors leave off people think you're only opening the car door it's not just about opening
21:46the car door it's opening the car door for her majesty the queen
21:53the bars around the queen's visit has reached the gift shop where emily costello is restocking the shelves
22:00so on days like today when we have a royal visit we're definitely going to be selling more of our
22:04crown items we have the snow globes as well with some of the replica crowns socks with all of our
22:10crown prints anything that's sort of directly related to the royal family is going to be really
22:14really popular on a day like today we get lots of people obviously from the uk coming to visit but
22:19we do get a lot of wonderful tourists from overseas so lots of american tourists everybody wants a piece
22:24of the royal family it's really exciting and it sort of brings everyone together
22:30it's half past two the tower is now on the final countdown to the queen's arrival
22:39we have about 25 minutes left until her majesty arrives i can see huge amounts of activity going
22:46on around the tower the young water's just about to practice there on a guard we've got press all
22:52over the place wanting to cover this really amazing visit and anticipation is also building for harrison
22:59as his big moment draws near i'm feeling very very very excited because i'm gonna plant a poppy with
23:07the queen we've had a little practice where it goes into the ground so that you're already prepared so
23:12so do you think if um that the queen has any trouble you're going to be able to help her show
23:16what to do yeah because i already planted wonderful i've been practicing my bow absolutely would you
23:24like to see my bow but harrison's biggest challenge is going to be resisting the urge to wriggle about
23:32so do you think you're going to be able to stand nice and still yeah yeah it's tough isn't it
23:41that's very good still standing good job
23:46from the most junior member of the welcoming party to one of the most senior the nerves are kicking in
23:53deputy governor anna is going over some last minute details so final checks for the queen's visit
23:59the south lawn is it's quite heavily cabled for when the poppies light up later so we just need
24:04to make sure there are no trip hazards we've got some veterans coming uh one of whom will present a
24:09poppy to her majesty and the other will present a poppy to harrison to lay so they're really important
24:14part of the visit and then yeah we'll just roll with whatever hits us and keep our fingers crossed
24:21with minutes until the queen arrives the tension is rising i can't help feel me a little bit nervous
24:27about this because you know everything is running smoothly now but you never know what might happen
24:42the union standard is lowered and the royal standard is raised indicating the presence of the monarch
24:51the queen's motor gate pulls into the tower aj's ready poised to open the queen's door
25:04but unexpectedly her majesty is sitting on the other side it's a last minute adjustment and aj's big moment
25:12slips from her grasp yeah so i did open the car door but the queen did not exit my side
25:17but i was very close to her majesty and she looked absolutely fabulous
25:30on arrival the queen meets the tower's senior figures and an honor guard of yeoman waters
25:38before taking in the 30 000 ceramic poppies that pour across the lawn
25:43i think her majesty the queen will be blown away by the poppies no matter where you go and how you
25:50look at this display you are moved and i do truly think that her majesty will be moved
25:56sporting impeccably shiny shoes and trying his hardest to stand still harrison meets her majesty
26:03she'll be planting the last of the poppies with young harrison so another very proud moment our youngest
26:09tower resident with her majesty the queen planting the last two poppies so that the entire installation
26:14is complete the queen receives a poppy from henry william rice a veteran who served as a signalman in
26:22the royal navy during the second world war today meeting the queen makes me rather proud actually
26:31and don't forget this can only happen because i've survived people giving their lives up they know they
26:42will never be forgotten they mustn't as the lucky tower visitors look on poet laureate simon armitage
26:51reads his specially commissioned poem in retrospect so the point begins the world asks a great deal of the
27:00poppies insist they carry the wounds of war and shoulder the weight of remembrance such flimsy wavering
27:08plants we painted their flowers the color of blood but for all their spindly roots frail stalks and
27:16papery petals as easily smudged as a butterfly wing they nod and they nag reminding us not to forget
27:26flagging the red alert as their crumpled petals unfold so rightly the poppies ask a great deal of the world
27:47it's time for harrison's big moment he plants his poppy alongside the queens
28:12looks like all that practice has paid off
28:24with the final two poppies in place it's time to record the occasion in the tower's visitors book
28:34the poppy installation has now been officially opened by queen camilla
28:39she was really impressed by what's been created here with the poppy installation and the fact that
28:44we're trying to remember the resilience of people and places it was so exciting to see her majesty up
28:51close and personal she wore the most beautiful dress and i will say she had the most amazing gloves that
28:57had poppies on them the royal visit had not been widely publicized so some people got an extraordinary
29:05surprise with their tower ticket the kids were very excited cheering her name but not only that she
29:11continued around and carried on for the rest of the crowd which was absolutely fabulous visitors just
29:17turning up at the table and today to be part of this great occasion so yeah well done everybody
29:22and it's mission accomplished for harrison i think she saw my shiny shoes and now free to wiggle around
29:31to his heart's content i just feel really honored and privileged that we've got to do this and i
29:36honestly i'm beaming from kind of ear to ear really and i know we are all going to remember this and
29:41treasure it for such a long time so we planned this really well and it went perfectly everything
29:50went to plan uh yeah it's i love it when things come together like that
29:59the tower of london attracts thousands of visitors a week and they come from all over the world
30:05and where are you from um colorado oh what a great place colorado denver denver denver i got
30:13extremely drunk in denver one day where are you from australia oh wow where are you from canada
30:20where are you from oh fabulous yeah you've got quite a big tower from there isn't that's true yeah
30:26the tower always draws the crowds but there's one story in particular that they come here for
30:32and that's the execution of anne boleyn so our first victim in 1536 was queen anne boleyn second
30:40wife of king henry the eighth he asked her to look to her left and as she brought her head back to the
30:45center well there was something quite unusual about anne's execution and that's that she was beheaded
30:52with a sword rather than an axe well this was considered quite a privilege to be beheaded by a sword
30:59because it was a more dignified way to die so it was seen actually as a parting gift by henry the eighth
31:06to his rejected second wife the head did not realize it may detach from the body
31:12this contradictory act showing mercy to his wife just as he had her executed was typical of henry the
31:19eighth and his ruthlessness meant that even his most beloved relatives could find themselves locked in the
31:26tower henry the eighth's uncle arthur plantagenet was one such victim of the king's unpredictable
31:34behavior the king was close to his uncle arthur from a very early age
31:43henry grew up hardly knowing his father the king who was very distant now arthur was almost like a
31:48replacement father figure for the young henry and a very inspiring role model he was charismatic and very
31:56sporty athletic and they were qualities that henry definitely tried to copy as he was growing up and
32:04there's this very famous portrait of henry where he's looking every inch the sporty king with his muscular
32:11calves which he was very proud of always showed them off in white tights apparently so it seems that he
32:17grew up in the image of his uncle arthur and that he also really was very affectionate towards him
32:25there's an account here of henry describing arthur as being the gentlest heart living
32:33but in 1540 arthur ended up locked in the tower by his nephew the king
32:40how did arthur plantagenet go from being beloved uncle to tower prisoner
32:44coming up the tower resident proving more popular than the beef eaters so she's got 1465 followers
32:58i've only got 432 and how rushing his admin landed henry the eight's trusted uncle in the tower he doesn't
33:05like paperwork and for arthur personally this will have fatal consequences
33:15it's been an action-packed day at the tower both the queen's visit and then the gun salute went without
33:22a hitch young man warder aj clark is heading home for a break that's it her majesty's gone i'm tired hot a bit
33:31sticky but a nice glass of juice will sort me out so today has been a very busy day three things to do
33:38gun salute done ticked her majesty the queen's visit done that tick that box now for the main event this
33:45evening where we've got 300 vips and the veterans that are coming to listen to us tell stories about
33:50the tower at war get the band of the royal marines so we've got a musical extravaganza and everything
33:55going on tonight so yeah very very busy day but the team have pulled it off so far so good
34:03but the regular day job isn't over for the yeoman warders just yet this must rank as the world's most
34:10famous prison complex this building behind me the tower is called the beecham tower you'll see the
34:15arts window that top floor is our state prison it's where we kept all our state prisoners
34:21one of the tower's prisoners was henry the eighth's much-loved uncle arthur plantagenet
34:27he was previously a key figure in henry's court i have here an incredible archive of documents that
34:35rather proves he's taking his duties very very seriously and yet just two years from now he'll
34:41be arrested so what on earth goes wrong in 1540 uncle arthur's loyalty to henry appeared to be rewarded
34:51when from his home in calais he was invited to windsor to be made an earl so you can imagine he gladly
34:57accepted set sail across the channel with a happy heart but it soon became obvious it had all been a ruse
35:05just to get arthur over to england and then he found out that a different fate awaited him
35:14not only would arthur not become an earl he was locked up in the tower on suspicion of treason
35:21his supposed crime was conspiring against henry to hand territory to his enemies including the pope in
35:28rome but was this really the act of betrayal it appears to be given everything we know about how
35:36loyal he was to henry it doesn't quite fit that he would suddenly turn on his nephew and try to
35:42conspire against him with his public enemies number one it just doesn't add up arthur's fatal blunder
35:50was being careless with his paperwork and granting a passport to someone conspiring against henry there's
35:56evidence here that arthur didn't always pay close attention to the administrative nature of his role
36:03and in fact one of his agents reports i have seen passports which your lordship have signed and sealed
36:11wherein is written as you tender our pleasure reciting the same words over two or three times
36:17his agent is actually writing to him saying look please pay a bit more attention when you're
36:22signing all of these many documents that cross your desk but for this particular passport he really
36:28should have paid closer attention because he's just given free reign to someone who's plotting against
36:34the king and for arthur personally this will have fatal consequences and these consequences would soon
36:42be played out within these very walls okay part and parcel of being a yeoman warder is posing for
36:54snapshots big smile you're very welcome welcome i was hoping someone would ask me for a picture i've been
36:59waiting all day for that opportunity thank you but there's another smaller and more furry tower resident
37:05who is proving just as popular with the public what's this here yeoman warder emma roussel's cat nixie
37:13has become quite the tower attraction after arriving two years ago she's settled in happily and her
37:20online following is growing by the day i'm not sure how many followers she's got actually let's have a
37:25little check uh so she's got 1465 followers i wonder how many i've got i've only got 432 that's disappointing
37:37clearly she's a well-liked cat nixie lives the life many cats would dream of unlimited human attention and
37:46nearly 12 acres in which to hunt to her heart's content but she's not the first feline at the tower
37:52emma is on her way to meet keeper of the armory's emma maudsley to discover the intriguing history of
38:00cats at the fortress i have a black cat nixie i know she likes the mouse around the tower have you
38:07got any evidence of kind of cats being here at the tower london yes absolutely particularly this letter
38:14which relates to the second world war about whether they should continue feeding the cats that were on the
38:21staff of the staff of yes okay tower armories before the second world war cats were actually
38:29on the tower's payroll to keep vermin at bay but when the tower armories were given over to the
38:35military during the war the role of the cats came into question they said do we still need the cats
38:42the cat's gonna get the sack well that's the risk and so this is january 1941 i meant to reply
38:48before to your inquiry about the cat's allowance the cat is kept to keep down the rats and mice
38:54as the services of the cat are still needed i see no reason for the discontinuance of the allowance
39:00would it be rife with vermin back then i think they would have had a field day with the catering
39:06that was going on feeding soldiers in that space so having a cat there i think was crucial may they long
39:13continue to be at the tower of london in the 1500s rats were the least of arthur plantagenet's worries
39:22his slap dash approach to paperwork had led his nephew henry the eighth to lock him in the tower
39:28and charge him with treason we know that arthur was brought to what was described at the time as a very
39:35narrow cell inside the tower which was so different to the luxury he'd have been used to as a favored
39:42member of henry's court and as well arthur was a very old man by this time so it can't have been good
39:50for his health and it must have been utterly terrifying but despite ruthlessly imprisoning his
39:57uncle in the tower henry's changeable nature came into force again so i have here a really intriguing
40:05record of a gift that henry gave his uncle arthur in march 1541 a large gown of damask furred with black
40:16coney well this was really quite a lavish gift this is coney which is rabbit fur it's incredibly soft
40:25very warm and damask was one of the most expensive luxurious fabrics that you could find it tended to
40:33be used for items of royal dress so clearly giving him a gift like this suggests henry hasn't altogether
40:41lost the affection for arthur that he's held all that time and does it also suggest that in his heart
40:51henry knows full well that arthur isn't guilty nevertheless rumors began circulating that he was
40:59in danger of being executed in the end arthur plantagenet did die in the tower but it's not by
41:08execution in 1542 henry decides to pardon his old uncle to order his release from the tower it seems though
41:18that all this was just too much for poor old arthur there's a contemporary quote that says receiving
41:25so great a pressure of joy his heart was overcharged therewith in other words arthur's heart gave out he
41:34had a heart attack and he died upon receiving this news which seems so tragic when he's on the brink of
41:41freedom the shock of the pardon proved to be more than arthur could take he was buried in the chapel of
41:49saint peter at vincula at the tower but he was never given a headstone i think in a way this is completely
41:57typical of henry's contradictory attitude towards his once beloved uncle he loved arthur he imprisoned him
42:07he kept him in a cold dark cell he sent him rich gifts he pardoned him but then it seems in death
42:15he wanted him to be completely forgotten
42:23next time the tower hosts veterans from world war ii for a special anniversary it would help the wind just
42:31dies down a little bit but yeah they're a whole generation seeing the veterans front and center
42:37it was just really really emotional a new recruit takes on the ultimate tower test learning the beef
42:43eater tour it's quite tough to drag a thousand years of history into my head if you can't pass the test
42:49you can't stay at the tower of london and it's a big day for the new ravens as they're allowed out of
42:55their cages for the first time are they going to take to the public are they going to take to the
42:59other ravens are they going to get lost are they you know there's so many questions
43:06and you can see that next thursday at eight
43:09has the cost of living left you facing no frills festive fun this year a luxury christmas for less
43:15how to do it has the tips brand new tomorrow at eight coming up join dermit and the gang for a
43:20thanksgiving nfl big game night as the dallas cowboys host the kansas city chiefs live next
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