The Tulip Staircase

This photo was taken by Reverend and Mrs. R.W. Hardy while on a vacation in England. They visited the Queen's House, now a museum, during normal operating hours. At around 5 p.m. , the Reverend took some photos of the interior, including one of the beautiful staircase. The pictures taken before and after the staircase one show other parts of the Queen's House, but nothing like the hooded figure visible on the staircase.

Mrs. hardy had been standing with her husband as he took the photos, and she swore that nothing could have gotten into the frame without her noticing. She also stated that they had tried to go up the staircase themselves, but the staircase was blocked by a "No Admittance" sign on a rope barrier.

Kodak examined this picture and said that the negative was not manipulated or tampered with in any way. The only other explanation is that there had been someone on the stairs. However, the Hardys swear there was noone on the stairs, and the museum staff are very strict about not allowing visitors on the staircase.

It seems to me that someone, a visitor or staff member would certainly remember people going up the stairs, especially since they were apparently dressed in robes with hoods!

When you first see the picture, it looks like a single figure with a very long right hand reaching out ahead. If you look closer, you can see that BOTH hands are LEFT hands, and Both show a ring on the marriage finger!

Other visitors and staff have reported seeing shadowy figures in the area of the staircase andunexplained footsteps have been heard there as well.

Recently, another incident at this 400 year old house was reported by a Gallery Assistant who was talking about a tea break with two other staff members. He claims he saw one of the doors to the Brdige Room close by itself. At first, he dismissed it as one of the lecturers, but then he saw a woman glide across the balcony and disappear through the wall on the west balcony. The three colleagues ran to the area above the room she had passed from (Queen's Presence Room) and looked down towards the one she should be in(Queen's Bedroom). They looked on in amazement as they saw her pass through the ante-room and out through the wall. They described her as a ;ady dressed in a white-grey crinoline type dress.

Other mysterious phenomena that have been reported here are the disembodied chanting of a group of children, a pale woman wiping up blood at the bottom of the Tulip Staircase, slamming doors, and people being pinched by invisible hands. The blood at the bottom of the staircase is attributed to an incident that happened about three centuries ago when a maid either jumped or was thrown over the highest bansiter and fell 50 feet to her death.