How does it stay up?

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One of the things that puzzled us all during our visit to Hampton Court Palace was the canopies (properly called a baldachin I think) over the King’s thrones. How are they held up? There were several of these and one could be seen to be supported by chains attached to the wall. The others, though, had no visible means of support. They were not hanging from the ceiling. They were not suspended from the wall behind. They were not held up at the corners. There was no counter-balancing mechanism the other side of the wall. It was hard to believe that such a large construction was held up just by some sort of legs on one edge. Even if they didn’t have a heavy frame, just the fabric would be a reasonable weight. Perhaps if they were always in the same position there could be some sort of weights hidden within the wall itself, built in when the wall was built? Or had the Tudors discovered the secret of anti-gravity, which has since been forgotten? I did ask several members of staff but none of them knew (although I did discover that the huge tapestries are hung using extra-strong Velcro!) Does anyone have inside information? Or just a good educated guess? All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2023.