Hatfield House is situated on the eastern side of the town Hatfield in Hertfordshire, just 24 miles north of London. The house is a fine example of Jacobean architecture that was originally built in 1611 by Robert Cecil, First Earl of Salisbury- Chief Minister to King James I- and has been home to the Cecil family ever since. Once a palace, this was where King Henry VIII’s children: King Edward VIII, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth I, spent their youth. After succeeding Queen Elizabeth I, King James I gave away the palace. The estate today includes extensive grounds and surviving parts of the earlier palace.