Tudor ring linked to Elizabeth I goes on display

A gold signet ring linked to Queen Elizabeth I has gone on display at Hampton Court Palace after being found by a Bedfordshire metal detectorist.

The Tudor ring was discovered in Ampthill in a former royal hunting ground once owned by Henry VIII.

Historic Royal Palaces, the independent charity that cares for Hampton Court Palace, bought the ring after it was acquired by the government under the Treasure Act 1996.

It went on display on Monday alongside another ring linked to the family of Anne Boleyn.

The 1570s gold ring features an engraving of a phoenix rising from flames.

This symbol was first associated with Elizabeth's mother, Anne Boleyn, after a 1575 poem compared her to a phoenix and said Elizabeth had risen from her ashes "as a worthy queen".

Elizabeth adopted the phoenix emblem herself in honour of her mother's memory, and courtiers then wore it as a sign of loyalty.

The ring was found close to the former site of Ampthill Castle, where Catherine of Aragon was detained during her divorce from Henry VIII.

Tracy Borman, chief historian of the charity, said: "Finds like this rarely survive, and it raises tantalising questions about the individual who once owned and wore it, perhaps within the very orbit of the queen herself."

It is being displayed alongside a ring found close to the home of Anne Boleyn's cousin.

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