Thanks to Caroline Holden for this picture above.
Barefoot
By Henry Tudor

By throwing away my wrist watch and my tie
By wearing only shorts, caps am I
Leaving my past life behind to be lost
I march forward, alone at my own cost.

I now wear sandals all the year round
No socks, no protection from cold and the ground
It seems to be natural for me to rebel
To avoid the commuters, the traffic, the smell.

I now live at my speed, no boss for me now
No expert who watches and telling me how
I breath now more easy, more time to explore
I work when I want to, no stress to endure.

To my past workmates, I thank you again
You helped me discover, its good in the rain
No matter the weather, I love every day
I live out my new life my own special way.

I now am an actor, I play my own role
I dress up and speak out, I relive a soul
I give much more pleasure to many a crowd
You can hear me from out there, I’m shouting it loud.

So if you need comfort in your horrible job
Change now, become active at being a slob
Be just what you want to, be only yourself
You’ll find a new heaven, a barefoot clad wealth.

Just how accurate is Ray?


Lots of people have asked how I take my Vespa Scooter with me on my trips?
Easy really, the Hampton Sport GTi has a garage!

Now that's cool!

Behind the Scenery
By Henry Tudor

Creating the illusion of age
Is why I receive my wage.
Bring the Tudors alive to you
Means building a castle too.

Not in stone and glass and mud
But in composite glue and wood.
It called scenery, and it must look real
It must convey that actual feel.

Of Castles grey, cold and old
Of leaded windows to unfold.
Of course the weight and size depend
Upon the carriage’s, van end.

So a folding scene I designed
Five panels so refined.
It took two days to make and paint
And I’m not claiming the saint.



Lots of lead and black duct tape
Brought out Tudor, for a landscape.
Now I can erect the backdrop in place
And create my own Palace space.

The school’s will love it so
And I’ll ship it to and fro.
From Cornwall to northern part
This scenery will form my art.

The red carpet, throne and cape
Will enhance this great landscape.
So here’s a picture, before you ask
How Henry Tudor goes about the task.



This is Ray Irving with his only one Wife (She is worth 6 others).

Hey! There's a McDonald's in the background.
It should be BurgerKING.



In the Red!

.........I will certainly keep your website on file and recommend it to any students asking about the Tudors.

Mary Walsh
Parliamentary Education Unit

A retired AST Teacher (Advanced Skills Teacher) of 22 years experience, Ray works now as a professional Actor and is a member of Equity. He works from home and from his mobile Castle , a converted Caravan for gigs too far away to return in the evening. His costume was hand made by a professional Theatrical Costumier and follows the actual King Henry VIII design as closely as possible.


Cruising.

If you want to be put in touch with the maker of this fine costume then contact King Henry VIII himself.

The "Hilliard" Chain of office was especially hand-made in America with the Tudor colours of Emerald green and Cream Pearls.


Ray.

Before Ray was a Teacher, he managed an Electronics factory in Hong Kong and has always had difficult, stressful, design orientated positions which he successfully undertook. He is married with three daughters and two grand children, unlike the character he plays he is a very happily married family man!


Here's Ray teaching in a Girl's Highschool in Tokyo, Japan!

"Being King Henry is wonderful, fifteen minutes of fame every week!"
Sometimes however being Henry is overpowering and I need to revert to Ray.


"I find being King Henry VIII very easy once the costume is on. It's as though it compliments my looks and puts me instantly into character."



It’s my left eyebrow you should worry about!
I know I’ve confused you and your mind is wandering about your head to figure it out. Now you have to be Henry’s look-a-like to understand it straight away.
Henry VIII had a series of looks that only he could use, servants and courtiers had to learn them in order to keep on his good side and know when the King was in a foul mood or upset. Here they are straight from the face of King Henry VIII.

1. Tightly close mouth and slightly pursed, staring straight with a frown.
This mood is bad, the King should be avoided.
2. The left eyebrow lifted, lips tightly sealed, head turned slightly to the right and the stare to the left.
Your head is about to roll.
3. The right eyebrow lifted, the lips slightly closed, the head to the left and slightly upwards, the stare to the right.
Henry fancies the wench in his stare.
4. The head facing downwards, the eyes forward, the lips clenched.
Henry likes what you are proposing but wants to be the one who thought of it first.

Try these for yourself and see how the man thinks.

Children love King Henry, even though at first they are a little scared that he is so much like the real King. They soon warm to his easy going nature and lose their shyness. Their parents or teachers are also fairly apprehensive at first, and as soon as they confirm their belief that its not the real Henry they join in the fun.

I sent a speculative email to various Education departments around the country. First of all, the general public never see this side of the Education System in the UK, but working hard to provide a great service are hundreds of people who provide resources and IT support for all schools. Here are a few of the answers I received, remembering how hard it is to get answers from Castles, Publishers and businesses this response just shows how our Education system cares about the people at the end of a phone line or email letter. To you all I thank you.

“Ray, as a one time Head of History I really enjoyed your site, great stuff. I have passed it on to the school improvement service…….”
Director of Children,
Family & Adult Services
East Riding of Yorkshire Council

“Thanks for the link to your impressive website. I have added it to our list of useful websites in our Education section.”
 Kevin Moore - Web Author
Sustainable Communities - "Connecting people to Services"
Community and IT Services
Tameside MBC

“I’ve had a real good look at the hard work you have put into building this website. The site is very engrossing and informative. I’m sure you have been told a thousand times over that you really do look like King Henry VIII …….”
Content Liaison Officer
Knowsley Education and Lifelong Learning Department

“Links to this resource have now been added to the Luton Learning Grid website. It will appear in appropriate sections of the site including the Key Stage 2 pupil section.”
Web Development Officer
Children & Learning
Luton Borough Council

What is the name of your company?

I own the website HenryTudor, also the email for that address, my stage name registered with Equity is Henry Tudor. Therefore, I work for myself as Henry Tudor actor and webmaster for the 7 Tudor websites.

Can I link to your websites?
Yes if you send me the link for approval first.

Can I advertise on your website?
No. This website primarily is free for any educational study and I do not want to make it commercial.

See this BBC website.
www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/going_out/2005/06/30/henry_tudor.shtml

Meeting the Boss of Hampton Court Palace.

21st November was about to become a significant date in my life, more so the 22nd but that was not in the same league and a date I would like to forget. I had been in email contact for a number of weeks with the boss of Hampton Court Palace; he had been impressed with my characterisation of Henry from the national broadcast of Rolf on Art the Holbein big event in Trafalgar square. I had been told before that only large, subsidised theatre groups such as the Tudor Group ever got an audience with Historic Royal Palaces HRP to you and me. For me to get an email from HRP who seemed to be more talkative than in the past, gave me the confidence to answer as an accepted accurate re-enactor. I arranged that when I go down to Sussex and Kent on one of my History expeditions. This expedition was going to be a corker, Hampton Court, Hever Castle and Leeds Castle all in a three day trip with the caravan. My companion for the trip would be Bill, a retired history teacher and college principle. I openly informed the HRP people that Monday 21st November I and Bill will arrive at the check in office at 2.30pm. Leaving the car and caravan in the coach park. The plan was a two hour stay and then try to beat the M25 traffic to our caravan site near Maidenhead. How many plans do you know that go right?
We arrived at 1.30pm and went in the Tiltyard restaurant for a lunch. Bill and I were enjoying the trip and a little anxious about the type of reception we upstarts might receive. We took some great pictures of the gardens and wrought iron gates, pleasantly noticing that the lack of children made the visit much more comfortable than if with a class and on duty. Bill found a new Gentlemen’s toilet block to make sure he didn’t need to ask during the HRP meeting. I waited outside, smiling as a coach-load of school kids arrived next to the toilet block. The male half of the party, about 30 of them all ran into the block changing if from a quiet zone suddenly into an erupting bunker. Bill eventually came out, a little bit ruffled and still smiling, “How on earth did that happen?” was his ironic comment about his life in general.
It was nearly time to meet our new contact in the arrival office so we walked briskly over to the reception area. The Boss, as I shall call him, met us with a positively happy expression. I felt small though as he was about 6ft 4” tall, as is Bill. It is really off putting to always be the tallest in your family and in company but to be the short guy in the party takes some getting used to. We were given Identification badges and taken on a behind the ropes tour of the Palace seeing the things only ever seen in video’s and books and hearing the truth about Henry. Happily the truth is exactly the way I believed Henry to be. A fussy man who experimented with fashion and ordered seemingly impossible tasks to be done by frightened individuals. A man often conned by unscrupulous people who had the gift of the gab and took money for little work. The best example being the removal of Ann’s initials from the Great Hall upper perimeter before Jane would see them. The craftsmen were paid excess amount to do the work over night so they cheated. They only changed the initials in view and left the ones behind wall hangings. Nowadays the hangings have gone and the mixture of initials is quite revealing. Further on in the tour we came to the real Holbein portrait where I stood next to the painter’s view of Henry just to prove how accurate I did resemble the man. Lots of smiles and nods later I knew I had hit the mark. So much so we diverted from the expected “behind the ropes” plan and went to see the new Wolsey archaeological working of an old wall that has been in the press of late. Painted bricks show the cutting of costs that Wolsey was doing to make a Tudor pattern in the side of a building, even painted brick lengths to give a more even pattern from the misshaped bricks they had on offer. The Kitchen’s and wine cellars were so revealing about the quantity of food and drink consumed, the bread making ovens were so big and numerous that the poor cooks were providing meals for hundreds of people each and every day.
The tour over we were taken to a suite of offices in the old Soldier barracks to talk actors and education, you see I have certain qualifications that other look-alikes would kill for. Not only am I very accurate in looks, mannerisms and Tudor period knowledge, I am also a retired advanced skills teacher who can talk to large groups well and plan educational events to national curriculum specifications. My website was discussed and the nature of my belief that all on it should be free, including the eKits. The eKit method of giving away a model electronically was thought a great new direction for teaching and I should have a go at making a Hampton Court Model.
Having seen the complications of the place first hand I knew that the model was going to be a great challenge but one I could do.
We said our goodbyes and headed for the coach park, a good day about to turn sour.
The traffic had become so bad we took 20 minutes to turn out of the coach park, nobody down there has manners. It took another ninety minutes to find the caravan park, only to be greeted by the rudest manager I have ever come across. “Whatever you do, do not drive on the grass!” he pointedly aimed his instruction at me three times. I was on the point of telling him to talk to me as if I was an adult when Bill noticed my displeasure and dragged me out into the foggy dark arrivals bay. The caravan space was tight, dark and the lights did not work. I did touch the grass a bit, but didn’t care as I was now in the mood to bite his head off. We eat and slept and planned the visits to the other tow castles.
07.30 My daughter rang me up; my Brother in law, and best of mates, John was in hospital with the cancer that was eating his body away. Come home as soon as you can was the message as he did not have a lot of time left.
We forgot our planned trip and made the caravan ready for the 312 mile journey back home, our expected time of arrival being 3.00pm. We did arrive at 3.00pm as we had taken the toll road on the M6 to save precious minutes and I was next to John’s bed by 4.00pm.
John died at 8.14pm that day and I than God he waited for me, I said goodbye to my soul brother whilst he was alive and watched as his breath slowly stopped.
All this was two weeks ago, and now John has been buried in his hometown of Tydesley, in a new grave in the open grassy area he would have loved. I spoke about my friend in the service, how we had gone on Henry jobs in London and how his character made the journey so much fun. He would have been with Bill and me at Hampton Court if he did not have that terrible disease that took his life at 60 years of age, he would have loved to see what we had seen, hear the stories see the people.
Now I am getting over the death of John, the funeral was the closure I sought and now I am planning the trip again, this time Kent and the Castles, thought not that caravan site.
Look out for King Henry VIII in future public enterprises with HRP both at Hampton Court and The Tower of London. I informed my agent in London about my trip and its outcome, they did not know how I had pulled it off, the impossible gig. I’m not glowing about the HRP visit as I should be; the events of the day after have cut it out of my heart.

Ray Irving