Today, I am delighted to host another guest post from the wonderful Sam Mee. Sam is the founder of the Antique Ring Boutique, based in London (hence the British spellings in the article!), which sells gorgeous, authentic rings from the Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian, and Art Deco eras (he doesn’t sell Tudor jewelry – not much has survived and what does “is in museums, where it belongs” as he puts it). Many of you will remember Sam from his other articles, What Henry’s Wives’ Jewelry Tells Us About the Tudor Court and How Valentines Day Survived the Tudor Reformation – articles that spurred a great deal of interest.
Without further ado, I turn you over to Sam…
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Traces of Henry VIII’s lost Palace of Beaulieu have just been uncovered during building works in Chelmsford, England. Just a few tunnels have been found so far so there’s not much to see – but if you are in England this year or next, there are some other absolutely must-see Tudor exhibitions to take in. Here’s a roundup of the best Tudor attractions in 2026 and beyond.
Elizabeth I: Queen & Court at Philip Mould & Company, London
You’ll have to be quick with this one as it only runs until July 10. It’s a free portraiture exhibition, put on by the dealer Philip Mould, of private-collection loans of Queen Elizabeth I, including the earliest surviving life-size full-length portrait. It’s a once in a lifetime chance to see many of these paintings, as they have been lent by private collectors (mostly those who purchased through the gallery). If you can’t make it, there’s an excellent 93-page catalogue and also a YouTube video about the four images at the heart of the display.
Capturing a Queen: The Image of Anne Boleyn at Hever Castle, Kent (Runs from 11 Feb 2026 to 2 Jan 2027)
You’ve got until the end of the year to take in the largest gathering of portraits believed to depict Anne Boleyn, on show at Hever Castle in Kent, South East of London. It also includes new analysis of Hever’s “Rose” portrait and challenges the assumption that Henry VIII systematically erased portraits of his second wife after her beheading. The castle is a double-moated 14th-century building and was Anne’s home as a youth; for details on the exhibition, check out https://www.hevercastle.co.uk/whats-on/capturing-a-queen/
Dangerous Calling – 500 Years of William Tyndale’s New Testament at St Paul’s Cathedral, London (Runs from 5 June 2026 to 27 Feb 2027)
Tyndale’s New Testament put scripture into printed English and challenged the Church’s control over biblical interpretation. Henry VIII banned it in 1526 but, ironically, it helped fuel the English Reformation (where Henry and the Church of England broke from the Catholic Church). Just two years after Tyndale was executed in 1536, Henry VIII authorized the publication of the Matthew Bible, This translation relied on Tyndale’s work and by 1539, the King commanded that the English Bible be made freely available in all parishes. Tyndale hadn’t endeared himself to Henry by opposing the King’s divorce from Katherine of Aragon (the marriage was annulled in 1533). For details check out https://www.stpauls.co.uk/whats-on/exhibition-dangerous-calling-500-years-of-william-tyndales-new-testament (you need the extra Treasures ticket to see the Bible).
The Tudor Heart at the British Museum
The Tudor Heart Pendant is an extraordinary 24-carat gold and enamel Renaissance jewel associated with Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon. A metal detectorist in Warwickshire found it buried in the ground in 2019 and a £3.5 million public fundraising campaign was launched to purchase it for the British Museum earlier this year. It’s on display now, and will eventually tour the UK (so if you’re coming to see it, check where it will be!!)
The jewel is on display in the “Collecting the World” gallery, with the appeal explained here. And you can read about other unexpected treasure finds here.
The Cheapside Hoard
The new London Museum will open on 28 November 2026 and is expected to show items from the Cheapside Hoard, the greatest single collection of Elizabethan and Jacobean jewelry in the world. It’s made up of 500 buried items, found by workmen in a cellar in Cheapside (part of London) in 1912. I’ve written about it before but you’ve not been able to see it since 2014. The new museum solves this problem.
And later next year …
Real Tudor fans might want to then come back a year later to check out Tate Britain. It’s the gallery’s first Tudor exhibition for 30 years and will have around 150 works, including by leading artists such as Hans Holbein, Nicholas Hilliard and Isaac Oliver. It runs late next year from November 2027 to April 2028. If you’re in the UK, the Cheapside Hoard should be on display by then at the new Museum of London.
Come and Visit Me!
If you are in the UK to see any of these exhibitions and would like to see any antique jewellery (other than Tudor, those belong in museums), please do get in touch – just contact me to arrange an appointment. Even if you don’t plan a visit, you can see our collection of rings at https://www.antiqueringboutique.com/en-us/collections/all-vintage-antique-rings.
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