Catherine Howard’s Haunted Gallery

At Hampton Court Palace, the Haunted Gallery takes its name from the ghost of Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII. According to legend, her spirit runs screaming through this corridor, reenacting her desperate, unsuccessful attempt to reach the king and plead for mercy before her execution.

Catherine Howard

Catherine Howard was a young woman of the nobility who became the fifth wife of Henry VIII in 1540. She was probably about seventeen years old when she married the aging king, who was then nearly fifty.

The marriage was initially happy, with Henry doting on his young bride. However, within eighteen months, evidence emerged of Catherine’s premarital affairs and possible adultery with Thomas Culpeper, a courtier.

When the accusations were brought to Henry, he was devastated. Catherine was placed under house arrest at Hampton Court while her fate was decided.

The Legend

According to tradition, Catherine broke free from her guards and ran through what is now called the Haunted Gallery, attempting to reach the chapel where Henry was attending Mass. She hoped to plead her case directly to him, believing she could convince him of her innocence or at least win his mercy.

The guards caught her before she could reach the chapel door. She was dragged back, screaming, to her quarters. She would never see Henry again.

Catherine Howard was beheaded at the Tower of London on February 13, 1542. She was about nineteen years old.

The Haunting

Since at least the nineteenth century, visitors and staff at Hampton Court have reported seeing and hearing Catherine Howard’s ghost in the Haunted Gallery. Witnesses describe a woman in white running through the corridor, screaming, before vanishing near the chapel door.

Guards have reported the sounds of running feet and female screams when the gallery is empty. Some visitors have felt sudden cold spots or experienced overwhelming feelings of terror and despair.

In 1999, two visitors to Hampton Court independently reported seeing a woman in white in the gallery, without knowing of the legend.

Modern Investigation

The Haunted Gallery was subjected to scientific investigation in 2001, when researchers from the University of Hertfordshire examined environmental factors that might cause unusual experiences. They found that the gallery had some unusual acoustic properties and temperature fluctuations.

However, the investigators also noted that many visitors experienced strong emotions and unusual phenomena that could not be easily explained by environmental factors alone.

Assessment

Catherine Howard’s ghost represents the most famous haunting at Hampton Court, itself one of England’s most haunted locations. The historical tragedy is documented—a young woman caught in a political and personal disaster, whose desperate final attempt to reach her husband ended in failure.

Whether her spirit actually runs through the Haunted Gallery, whether the traumatic events imprinted on the location, or whether centuries of legend have created an expectation that generates experiences, visitors continue to report encounters with something in that long corridor.

Catherine Howard runs and screams, trying to reach a king who would not save her, in a tragedy that has repeated itself for nearly five centuries.