An ornately carved oak bed that spent 15 years in the honeymoon suite of a hotel in Chester, in the United Kingdom, had a remarkable hidden history: Experts recently found that it is likely to be a long-lost royal marriage bed dating to the 15th century.
In it, the nuptial frolics of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York celebrated the end of the Wars of the Roses (during which King Richard III died) and birthed England’s famed Tudor dynasty.
The bed’s former identity came to light after it was retired from the hotel and discarded in a parking lot. It was rescued by an antiques dealer who listed it as “a profusely carved Victorian four poster bed with armorial shields”, according to a description from a symposium about the bed’s history, held on Jan. 21 at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
When Ian Coulson, a restorer and dealer of antique beds, purchased the bed online in 2010, he discovered that the wood was far older than the seller suspected. What’s more, the bed’s embellishments hinted at royal origins, National Geographic reported.
Read more HERE
