Henry VIII has never been known as an austere king and his famous image as a round-bellied royal has shaped the public's view of the Tudor over the centuries.
But a new study has revealed the true extent of his eye-watering spending, with the King shelling out nearly £6million a year on drinks alone...
£6million a year drinks bill, £3.5million on meat and a £30million divorce: The VERY expensive tastes of Henry VIII
New study reviewed the king's spending and translated it into today's money
Henry spent equivalent of £6million on 600,000 gallons of beer for banquets
£3.5million meat bill included large orders for ox, mutton, venison, and beef
Anne of Cleves' divorce payments for 17 years would cost £29,630,000 today
By James Dunn For Mailonline
12 January 2017
Henry VIII splashed out the equivalent of £6million a year on drinks, £3million on meat and £30million on a divorce
Henry VIII has never been known as an austere king and his famous image as a round-bellied royal has shaped the public's view of the Tudor over the centuries.
But a new study has revealed the true extent of his eye-watering spending, with the King shelling out nearly £6million a year on drinks alone.
The drinks would satisfy his guests and courtiers, along with the £3.5million he would spend on meat, according to the recent review of his spending.
The spending, which has recently been calculated into today's terms, dwarfs the £1.4million that the current royals splash out on food for the Queen and her guests.
One of his biggest expenses was his divorce to Anne of Cleves in 1540, in which Henry - famous for his many wives - offered generous financial compensation.
Historians estimate that the settlement was worth £3,000 a year for the remaining 17 years of Anne's life, which would amount to £29,630,000 in modern money.
The investigation marks the launch of new series Castles: Britain's Fortified History, which is due to premiere on the Yesterday channel today.
Henry's lavish castle banquets featured a variety of meats, including unusual dishes such as ox and mutton as well as more familiar offerings like pork, beef and venison.
The Tudor king's huge meals were washed down with 600,000 gallons of beer every year, which would cost £5.78 million based on the price of an 11-gallon barrel today.
The lavish king, who lived at Hampton Court Palace (pictured), spent £6million on 600,000 gallons of beer for his guests, the equivalent of ten pints a day for each of his courtiers
To drink that much beer, each of the 1,200 people at court would need to have consumed an average of 10 pints every day.
Henry wasn't the only monarch to indulge in extravagant castle spending, with Edward I shelling out three quarters of his Treasury's annual income to build Beaumaris Castle on Anglesey in the 1290s.
That's akin to today's government, which receives £182 billion from income tax alone, spending £136.5 billion on the Queen's royal residences to match the Plantagenet king's deep pockets.
Leading historical author Guy Walters said Edward's castle spending was an 'insane figure'.
Henry wasn't the only monarch to indulge in extravagant castle spending, with Edward I shelling out three quarters of his Treasury's annual income to build Beaumaris Castle (above) on Anglesey in the 1290s
His divorce to Anne of Cleves (pictured) cost around £30million, with annual payments for the remaining 17 years of her life
He added: 'It just shows the huge vanity project that some of these buildings were. You could justify it for defensive purpose, but this is absolutely enormous.
'It puts the expenditure on Buckingham Palace into huge perspective.'
Edward, who was memorably depicted by Patrick McGoohan in the Hollywood epic Braveheart, spent a great deal of his time at Leeds Castle in Kent.
An enormous bath house constructed for Edward at that castle measured 352 sq ft and would've required roughly 10,500 gallons of water to fill - 200 times the size of an average bath, which only holds 50 gallons.
William the Conqueror also shelled out a huge portion of the royal purse on building and fortifying castles following the Battle of Hastings.
He built 500 castles in the first 20 years of his rule, with each the result of an estimated 50 men working for 80 days - approximately 32,000 man hours, assuming an eight-hour working day.
Based on the current British minimum wage of £7.20, William would've spent £115.2 million over two decades on labouring costs alone to construct his formidable portfolio of 500 castles.
The king was famous for his six wives, pictured top row from left, Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, bottom row, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr
Our Queen is no stranger to big spending, though, with the Windsor Castle restoration following the 1992 fire costing £37 million in 1997, which is more than £60 million today.
In contrast, Henry VIII's friend and confidante Thomas Wolsey's 200,000 crowns investment in turning Hampton Court Palace into what we know today amounts to a little less, being the equivalent of £33.8 million in today's money.
Today's castle dwellers, though, are fewer in number, with around 150 people resident at Windsor Castle, rather than the 1,200 who made up Henry VIII's court.
Mr Walters added: 'These figures show that the royals were very happy to spend money on getting themselves fat and drunk.
The king also gave Anne of Cleves Hever Castle (pictured), in Kent, in the 1540 divorce
'In many ways, the monarchs of the past were like the dictators of today. They loved their vanity projects and their eating and drinking. They were big show offs and loved splashing their cash.'
Castles: Britain's Fortified History will be shown every Thursday at 8pm on the Yesterday channel.
Adrian Wills, general manager for Yesterday, said: 'Comparing past and present royal lifestyles helps bring the excess of the past to life. This series offers an intriguing insight into magnificent castles and their place in British culture.
'Viewers can enjoy tracing the lasting impact of castles on our history, art and literature.'
Castles: Britain's Fortified History will be shown every Thursday at 8pm on the Yesterday channel, presented by historian Sam Willis
But a new study has revealed the true extent of his eye-watering spending, with the King shelling out nearly £6million a year on drinks alone...
£6million a year drinks bill, £3.5million on meat and a £30million divorce: The VERY expensive tastes of Henry VIII
New study reviewed the king's spending and translated it into today's money
Henry spent equivalent of £6million on 600,000 gallons of beer for banquets
£3.5million meat bill included large orders for ox, mutton, venison, and beef
Anne of Cleves' divorce payments for 17 years would cost £29,630,000 today
By James Dunn For Mailonline
12 January 2017
Henry VIII splashed out the equivalent of £6million a year on drinks, £3million on meat and £30million on a divorce
Henry VIII has never been known as an austere king and his famous image as a round-bellied royal has shaped the public's view of the Tudor over the centuries.
But a new study has revealed the true extent of his eye-watering spending, with the King shelling out nearly £6million a year on drinks alone.
The drinks would satisfy his guests and courtiers, along with the £3.5million he would spend on meat, according to the recent review of his spending.
The spending, which has recently been calculated into today's terms, dwarfs the £1.4million that the current royals splash out on food for the Queen and her guests.
One of his biggest expenses was his divorce to Anne of Cleves in 1540, in which Henry - famous for his many wives - offered generous financial compensation.
Historians estimate that the settlement was worth £3,000 a year for the remaining 17 years of Anne's life, which would amount to £29,630,000 in modern money.
The investigation marks the launch of new series Castles: Britain's Fortified History, which is due to premiere on the Yesterday channel today.
Henry's lavish castle banquets featured a variety of meats, including unusual dishes such as ox and mutton as well as more familiar offerings like pork, beef and venison.
The Tudor king's huge meals were washed down with 600,000 gallons of beer every year, which would cost £5.78 million based on the price of an 11-gallon barrel today.
The lavish king, who lived at Hampton Court Palace (pictured), spent £6million on 600,000 gallons of beer for his guests, the equivalent of ten pints a day for each of his courtiers
To drink that much beer, each of the 1,200 people at court would need to have consumed an average of 10 pints every day.
Henry wasn't the only monarch to indulge in extravagant castle spending, with Edward I shelling out three quarters of his Treasury's annual income to build Beaumaris Castle on Anglesey in the 1290s.
That's akin to today's government, which receives £182 billion from income tax alone, spending £136.5 billion on the Queen's royal residences to match the Plantagenet king's deep pockets.
Leading historical author Guy Walters said Edward's castle spending was an 'insane figure'.
Henry wasn't the only monarch to indulge in extravagant castle spending, with Edward I shelling out three quarters of his Treasury's annual income to build Beaumaris Castle (above) on Anglesey in the 1290s
His divorce to Anne of Cleves (pictured) cost around £30million, with annual payments for the remaining 17 years of her life
He added: 'It just shows the huge vanity project that some of these buildings were. You could justify it for defensive purpose, but this is absolutely enormous.
'It puts the expenditure on Buckingham Palace into huge perspective.'
Edward, who was memorably depicted by Patrick McGoohan in the Hollywood epic Braveheart, spent a great deal of his time at Leeds Castle in Kent.
An enormous bath house constructed for Edward at that castle measured 352 sq ft and would've required roughly 10,500 gallons of water to fill - 200 times the size of an average bath, which only holds 50 gallons.
William the Conqueror also shelled out a huge portion of the royal purse on building and fortifying castles following the Battle of Hastings.
He built 500 castles in the first 20 years of his rule, with each the result of an estimated 50 men working for 80 days - approximately 32,000 man hours, assuming an eight-hour working day.
Based on the current British minimum wage of £7.20, William would've spent £115.2 million over two decades on labouring costs alone to construct his formidable portfolio of 500 castles.
The king was famous for his six wives, pictured top row from left, Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, bottom row, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr
Our Queen is no stranger to big spending, though, with the Windsor Castle restoration following the 1992 fire costing £37 million in 1997, which is more than £60 million today.
In contrast, Henry VIII's friend and confidante Thomas Wolsey's 200,000 crowns investment in turning Hampton Court Palace into what we know today amounts to a little less, being the equivalent of £33.8 million in today's money.
Today's castle dwellers, though, are fewer in number, with around 150 people resident at Windsor Castle, rather than the 1,200 who made up Henry VIII's court.
Mr Walters added: 'These figures show that the royals were very happy to spend money on getting themselves fat and drunk.
The king also gave Anne of Cleves Hever Castle (pictured), in Kent, in the 1540 divorce
'In many ways, the monarchs of the past were like the dictators of today. They loved their vanity projects and their eating and drinking. They were big show offs and loved splashing their cash.'
Castles: Britain's Fortified History will be shown every Thursday at 8pm on the Yesterday channel.
Adrian Wills, general manager for Yesterday, said: 'Comparing past and present royal lifestyles helps bring the excess of the past to life. This series offers an intriguing insight into magnificent castles and their place in British culture.
'Viewers can enjoy tracing the lasting impact of castles on our history, art and literature.'
Castles: Britain's Fortified History will be shown every Thursday at 8pm on the Yesterday channel, presented by historian Sam Willis
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