Life-size Henry VIII statue stolen from Sutton Wetherspoons ahead of funeral

A full-size statue was stolen from a Wetherspoons pub in Sutton apparently to be used as part of a funeral ceremony last week. The statue was taken from The Nonsuch Inn, on London Road, last Tuesday (April 16) and is yet to be returned to the pub.

The Henry VIII statue is there because the pub sits next to Nonsuch Park which was the site of a grand palace belonging to the Tudor king. He built the palace to outshine his great rival, the King of France Francis I, (pulling down Cuddington village in the process) declaring that there was none such like it, the pub said.

Eddie Gershon spoke about the theft of the statue: "A group was in the pub on Tuesday night and one of them (with a little assistance from others holding the door) picked up and stole the life-size statue of Henry VIII and ran down the road with it. The group were not recognised by staff as regular customers and they left very soon after the statue had been taken and before we were certain about who had taken the statue.

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"We have also heard from customers and locals about the statue being taken to a funeral and to be returned but no confirmed details or contact from anyone involved and as of today the statue still has not been returned."

Henry VIII's gilded palace encrusted with decorated panels was meant to out-swagger the beautiful palace at Fontainebleau, the pride of French kings. Henry never saw it completed as he died in 1547 so his daughter Queen 'Bloody' Mary sold it to a nobleman - Henry Fitzalan, 12th Earl of Arundel, in 1556 and he completed it as intended by Henry, the pub said.

Queen Elizabeth, Henry's other daughter, got the palace back from Fitzalan's son to cancel an outstanding debt. It remained in the hands of the monarchy with Charles II giving the palace to his mistress Barbara Villiers, Lady Castlemaine, whom he made Duchess of Cleveland and Baroness Nonsuch, the pub said.

Under the Lady's watch, the palace fell into decay with not much cash to be put into it. Finally, it was demolished in 1662 to sell the materials and parklands to pay off her gambling debts. The land was levelled and remains as we see it today. Almost nothing remains of one of the most extravagant palaces in Europe.

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