History And All That,

a couple of posts ago, I mentioned that we were watching The Tudors, which is about the life and times of Henry V111, well in a timely twist of fate there is a exhibition to mark the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII's accession to the throne, it features many of his suits of armour, showing how lavish eating in those days led to him becoming successfully bigger as he grew older, at just over 6ft the infamous monarch cut a commanding presence, field armour made for the stocky royal when he was 23 revealed he already had a 34.7" waist and a 41.7" chest, but one of his last suits of armour showed the 48-year-old had become morbidly obese with a massive 51" waist and 54.5" chest, the armour is on display at the central White Tower in the Tower of London, they include the elaborately decorated 'Silvered and Engraved' armour dating from 1515 and the Wilton armour, possibly the king's last suit of armour made in about 1544, an outlandish helmet given to Henry by Maximilian I in 1514 is another star attraction, and is the only surviving piece from the suit of armour.

'Henry VIII: Dressed to Kill' is at the Tower of London from April 3 to January 17, 2010