Tigerlilly - Lobsang Rampa

CHAPTER SIX TEEN
Thames Ditton must have been a very important place in days
gone by, especially in the time of Queen Elizabeth the First.
One could just imagine the Queen sailing along in her barge,
right along the Thames to Hampton Court where, one under-
stands, she spent a great deal of time. At the present time, just
as at the time we were in the area, no doubt it is possible to
visit the actual suite she used, and gaze upon the bed wherein
she slept, or stayed awake. In England there is a famous
phrase which is used to attract tourists-‘Queen Elizabeth
slept here’—and it is used in information describing various
places. All of us seem to find satisfaction in viewing such
places of interest.
This brings to mind the story of the tourists (dare I com-
ment they might have been Americans, who seem to delight in
‘doing’ European places in a few hours). They had left Britain
and gone on to the continent, and were discussing various
historical places they had visited. ‘Did you see the Magna
Carta,’ someone asked. ‘No, we were too late, he had just left
before we arrived.’
My knowledge of history, is not so complete as I would like,
but if you can travel and visit places you can learn a lot more
than by just poring over a history book, and it was a satis-
factory feeling to visit the palace which was built for Cardinal
Wolsey by the great Henry the Eighth. I have been told that
my purpose in writing these pages is not to write a discourse
on Hampton Court or, indeed, to delve into historical matters,
but to write about my family, which of course in great part
means my Cat People. So be it, but I will just mention another
96