Historians Stunned by 'Rare' Century-Old Find Uncovered During Repairs

The surprise discovery of historical graffiti at a royal palace in London has stunned conservationists and history lovers.

"It was discovered recently while our conservation team was undertaking some routine conservation maintenance work on the windows in the Queen's Gallery at Hampton Court Palace," a spokesperson for Historic Royal Palaces told Newsweek. "We took off the wooden panel to carry out the work and it was discovered underneath."

Hampton Court Palace is located in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, about 12 miles southwest of central London. The 60-acre palace was built beginning in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chief minister of King Henry VIII. The construction was initiated during Wolsey's tenure and later taken over by Henry VIII's royal workmen in 1529.

The picture itself appeared to show an etching of a man, and the Heritage Science team wasted no time delving into the origins of the graffiti, employing advanced techniques such as UV light examination.

"Our Heritage Science team have carried out research work on the graffiti, which included examining the drawing with UV light. The UV light makes the writing easier to read and we were able to identify two dates: 1854 and 1834," the spokesperson revealed. "This information is going to be passed onto our curatorial team who will conduct further research to try and find out more."

It isn't uncommon to find graffiti like this among the historical walls of royal palaces—in fact, the Historic Royal Palaces team explained there is lots of it throughout Hampton Court Palace.

However, it was the quality of the etchings that really caught the eye of the team in this instance: "While there is lots of historic graffiti that can be found around the palace, it's rare to find graffiti of such high quality," they explained.

While King Charles III owns Hampton Court Palace "in trust of the Crown," no royal has lived there for more than 250 years. The palace is managed by the independent charity Historic Royal Palaces and is today used for various purposes including tourism. Throughout the year various events are held on the ground, including the Hampton Court music festival and the RHS Flower Show.

It has also been a notable location used for various TV programs and movies in recent years, including Hulu's The Great starring Elle Fanning, period dark comedy movie The Favourite and Netflix's Bridgerton series.

When it comes to the fate of the uncovered graffiti, the Historic Royal Palaces team explained: "The drawing has been covered up again as the wooden panel is an integral part of the wall. We have recorded as much information as we can about the graffiti before covering it over, including 3D scanning it so we have an accurate record. The graffiti has survived due to being protected by the wooden panel, and so covering it back up will give it the best protection."