Twitter has been used for some strange things before (Describing burglaries, the national curriculum), but this is surely a first: the microblogging service will be used to tweet “live” updates of the coronation of King Henry VIII, 500 years after it happened.
To celebrate the 500 year anniversary of the Tudor king’s coronation on 24 June, the Historic Royal Palaces, the charity which runs Hampton Court Palace and the Tower of London, will twitter the events leading up to the crowning, based on documentary evidence, all via @IamHenryVIII.
The Twitter stunt is designed to mirror how leaders like Barack Obama use the service and social media to communicate with the masses. The charity says that Henry VIII used the most modern means possible to reflect his image on the public, and would have been an avid Twitter fan.
Apparently, the first tweet will read “My father has died and I am to be King: a role – were it not for the death of my brother Arthur – for which I was not born. Pray God give me the strength to glory this great nation.”
Hopefully the king will notice before then that he’s 40 characters over the Twitter 140 limit, but given his habit of having heads lopped off, we’re not going to be the ones to tell him.
Out Now | £free | Twitter (Via Press Association) (Photo via mharrsch)
