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Hatfield House
Where Elizabeth
became queen
Elizabeth moved to Hatfield in
Hertfordshire, 20 miles north of
London, at the age of just three
months. Accompanied by a
sizeable household, she spent
much of her turbulent childhood
there, receiving occasional visits
from her mother, Anne Boleyn, and
father, Henry VIII. Elizabeth was
at Hatfield when she learned of
her accession on the death of her
half-sister Mary I in November
1558 – according to legend, she
was sitting under an oak tree when
she heard the news. “This is the
Lord’s doing,” she proclaimed. “It
is marvellous in our eyes.” The oak
tree still stands in the park today,
though much of the Old Palace
was demolished and replaced with
a newer hall by Robert Cecil,
Elizabeth’s last Lord Privy Seal,
who took ownership in 1607.
hatfield-house.co.ukThe new hall at Hatfield, built
from 1607 by Robert Cecil, who
demolished much of the Old Palace- Elizabeth’s childhood home
An ancient oak at
Hatfield. It was
under such a tree
that Elizabeth
reputedly learned
of her accession
to the English
throne in 1558