Is this the ghost of Anne Boleyn? Visitor to beheaded Queen's childhood home spots ghoulish hand in a castle corridor
By Jenny Awford for MailOnline
Published: 3 August 2015
- Liam Archer, 26, claims to have captured ghost of Anne Boleyn on camera
- He took a picture of fireplace at queen's childhood home Hever Castle
- When he got home he spotted ghoulish hand pointing towards chimney
- He is convinced it is spirit of beheaded queen who is said to haunt castle
A tourist who visited the childhood home of beheaded queen Anne Boleyn has captured a creepy image of what he claims is her ghost stalking the corridors.
Liam Archer, 26, was exploring Hever Castle in Kent with his family when he took the picture which appears to show a ghoulish hand hovering in the left hand side of the frame.
He spent the afternoon taking pictures around the former home of Henry VIII's second wife including one of an ornate fireplace in a dimly-lit living room in the 13th Century Kent castle. But it was only when he returned home and studied the photo that he spotted what looks like a hovering hand with a long finger apparently pointing towards the chimney.
Mr Archer, from Lewes, East Sussex, who did not believe in ghosts before taking the picture, is convinced it is the spirit of the young queen, who is said to haunt the castle. He said: 'In the prayer room there was a fog or a mist hovering around but I didn't think much of it at the time. 'I felt like an unknown force was pulling me through the castle. I couldn't see it but I could definitely feel it. 'I didn't know what to make of it because I didn't believe in ghosts at this point. But I am now confident it is her. 'It wasn't until three months after that I realised what I had taken a picture of. 'I believe there is something important historically inside the fireplace she wants me to recover.'
This is not the first time the queen's ghost has been spotted in the grounds of the castle, which later came into the possession of King Henry's fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. Her ghostly apparition has been seen wandering the gardens of the castle, often drifting over the bridge that crosses the River Eden. Anne's ghost is also said to appear each Christmas at Hever Castle. She is believed to manifest beneath a great oak tree where Anne and Henry courted.
American billionaire William Waldorf Astor bought and restored the castle in 1903 and it is now owned by Broadland Properties Limited. The estate is now run as a conference centre, but the castle and grounds are open to the public.
