It was while he was at Hampton that the news was brought to Henry of the death of his old favourite at Leicester Abbey. Henry, standing in a "nightgown of russet velvet furred with sables", heard the news callously, and only demanded an account of some money paid to the cardinal before his death; not a qualm disturbed his self-satisfaction. Such is the most picturesque reminiscence of Hampton, and others must stand aside with a mere reference; such events as the birth of Edward VI, which occurred here; the "honeymoon" of bitter, loveless Mary and her Spanish husband; the imprisonment of Charles I for three months. Melancholy ghosts these; but they do not haunt the main part of the palace, for that was built later by Wren, acting under orders from William III, to imitate Versailles. This incongruity of style must have sorely puzzled the much-tried architect, who has, however, succeeded admirably in his bizarre task. But of all the picturesque and romantic associations with palaces, those connected with Richmond are the most interesting. Only a fragment of the building now remains. After many vicissitudes, including destruction by fire at the hands of Richard II--who, like a child rending a toy which has hurt him, had it destroyed because the death of his wife occurred here--it was rebuilt by Henry VII, the first to call it Richmond, whereas before it had been Sheen. It is much associated with the eccentric and forceful Tudors, who, whatever their faults, had plenty of ability, and of that most valuable of all nature's gifts, originality. It is said that in a room over the gateway took place the death of the miserable Countess of Nottingham, who confessed at last that she had failed to give to Elizabeth the ring which the Earl of Essex had sent to her in his extremity; whereupon the miserable queen exclaimed: "May God forgive you, for I never can". The unhappy Katherine of Aragon, and still more unhappy Queen Mary, spent bitter days at Richmond. How different is Kew, a palace in name only, a snug red-brick villa in appearance, where the most homely of the Hanoverian kings played at being a private gentleman! The other royal palaces--Westminster, Whitehall and the Tower--belong to the London zone, a thing apart, just as London is now itself a county, an entity, and not merely a city overflowing into neighbouring counties.