Henry VIII’s “Stairthrone”

From The Mail Online:

Henry VIII is perhaps best known for his six wives and founding the Church of England.

But a leading academic has revealed that the bloated Tudor monarch has another claim to fame: inventing the stairlift.

David Starkey, well known for his TV documentaries on historical royals, discovered that Henry VIII used a bespoke ‘stairthrone’ during research.

Described in royal records as ‘a chair…that goeth up and down’, the stairlift is thought to have been operational at Whitehall Palace in London where it would have hauled the King up a 20ft staircase.

Full article

I wish I could have seen that in action…

One Comment:

  1. This is new and surprising! I already new the king walked with a stick in his later life and was also transported along by cart and pulley.But I never new this.I would like to know what it looks like.But I don’t know if there is one that still exsists? I also think there is more information and items Tudor related out there!

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