William and Kate’s Haunted Home

Ten bedroom Anmer Hall.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s newly remodeled home, Anmer Hall in Norfolk has a resident ghost.

This phantom is of a man who was martyred more than 400 years ago.

During Elizabethan times this home belonged to the Walpole family.

The eldest son in the family, Henry Walpole gave up his law practice and converted to Catholicism. He did this despite the fact this religion was harshly repressed by the English Crown.

Sir Henry Walpole

He studied abroad in 1590 becoming a Jesuit priest. He chanced the danger of persecution and started his journey back to England. He felt he would be able to successfully preach in Norfolk.

But fate intervened. The boat he traveled on was forced by bad weather to land in Flamborough in Yorkshire. Henry was arrested and taken to the Tower of London.

While imprisoned in the Salt Tower
Walpole carved his name in the plaster.
Photo: Richard Neveil

He endured months of torture on the rack while imprisoned at the Tower. In 1595 he was returned to York where at the age of 37, he was hung, and then drawn and quartered.

In 1970, Pope Paul Vl made him a saint.

Although he died far from Norfolk, his spirit appears to have returned home. His is seen wandering the grounds of Anmer Hall.

Witnesses have seen him in the home’s garden and it is said when the wind blows, people hear him calling.

Anmer Hall undergoing renovations.

Amner was a gift from the Queen to the royal couple. Recently it was overhauled to bring it up to date including new roof tiles, and the building of a glass-roofed garden room.

William and Kate like it so much they intend to make it their main home.

They were warned about the old hall being haunted by Sir Henry Walpole before they moved in. The couple took this in stride—for many of the royal residences are haunted.

The couple’s initial joking response to this news was, “No old home would be complete without a ghost.”