The Catherine of Aragon Suite
The inspiration
Catherine of Aragon's life in Ludlow was marked by young love and an untimely death. In 1501, at the age of 15, she married the 16-year-old Prince Arthur. Before long, the budding couple had moved to Ludlow Castle to hold court as Prince and Princess of Wales.
But as spring bloomed, tragedy struck. Catherine and Arthur fell ill from 'a malign vapour that proceeded from the air'. Catherine recovered. But her husband – the man she had married mere months earlier – died. Catherine, of course, would go on to marry Arthur's brother, the future King Henry VIII.
Catherine's suite at Castle Lodge takes inspiration from a local legend. The princess, it's said, was sent here to be quarantined as Prince Arthur fought his illness in vain.