David Packer has started a new outside walking tour around Hampton Court Palace - a relaxed, small-group evening stroll that takes you off the palace lawns and into the streets, bridges and pubs that actually grew up to service the royal place. We chat to David about why these outside stories matter: the bridge as part of the palace’s theatrical entrance, the Mitre pub from 1665, the Royal Mews and the bustling north side that most visitors never notice.

Along the way he peppers the tour with spine-tingling ghost yarns (including his own 2-3am “I don’t want to be here” moment in Fountain Court), juicy human anecdotes (yes, Joan Rivers once rocked up) and clear reminders about the difference between solid history and the fun of legend. The walk is about 90 minutes, best in the evening once traffic calms down, and is deliberately capped at around 10 people so it stays intimate and chatty. If you want to actually meet the place that grew up around the palace rather than just tick a box, drop David a DM via his Instagram.

Takeaways:

• We learn that Hampton Court Palace literally made the area - buildings, pubs and services grew up to cater for palace visitors across centuries, shaping the whole local landscape.
• David explains that many of the palace’s spooky tales are oral traditions or 19th-century inventions, so ghost stories often mix folklore, press snippets, and evolving exaggeration.
• We hear a proper hair-raising account: on a quiet night in Fountain Court David felt an unexplainable dread and scuttled back to the mess room, the only time he changed plans in over twenty years.
• David's outside walking tour focuses on things you miss going straight to the gates: the 1930s bridge, the Mitre pub from 1665, the Royal Mews, and the sadly neglected north side full of human stories.
• David urges visitors to slow down and look up: his favourite view from the far corner of the rose garden gives a practical, Tudor-town panorama of the palace that most people never notice.

• Follow David on Instagram

Produced by Gareth Davies at The Sound Boutique

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The Ferry Coffee Shop

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Business Partner: The Sound Boutique

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