South Western Railway (SWR) customers in London were surprised by an unexpected royal encounter as 'Henry VIII' boarded one of their services to the RHS Hampton Court Palace's Garden Festival. 

The larger-than-life monarch, known for his six wives, was spotted trading his usual Thames barge for one of SWR's Arterio trains, appropriately named the 'Red Rose', at London Waterloo station. 

Around 120,000 people attend the RHS Hampton Court Garden Festival each year and most of them travel to the event sustainably by train, according to SWR. SWR puts on additional services to Hampton Court station for the festival. 

Dressed in his recognisable splendour, Henry made the journey to mark 35 years of the flower show, founded in 1990 as a collaboration between Network SouthEast, SWR's predecessor, and Historic Royal Palaces, which manages Hampton Court Palace.

This year, SWR is also celebrating Railway 200, the bicentenary of the industry. 

During his journey, Henry was spied reading a copy of Booker Prize winning novel Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, set in his court. Customers also overheard him listening to sixteenth century music such as Greensleeves and Pastime with Good Company. 

At Hampton Court station, Henry waved to hundreds of SWR customers as they arrived on the platforms and treated adults and children alike to selfies. While at Hampton Court Palace, he also received a real red rose to complement his train.