Schoolgirl, 12, Photographs 'Ghost Of The Grey Lady' On Her IPhone

Schoolgirl, 12, Photographs 'Ghost Of The Grey Lady' On Her IPhone
The Sun / News Syndication

A schoolgirl believes she's photographed the ghost of Hampton Court's famous Grey Lady on her iPhone.

Holly Hampsheir, 12, thought she was taking a snap of her cousin Brook McGee during a day out at the 16th century stately home.

But she believes she's captured the spooky figure of Dame Sybil Penn, looming over the schoolgirl behind her back.

The woman has flowing dark hair and a full length black gown and certainly seems real enough in the picture.

But the next image in the series shows no sign of the visitor at all.

The girls didn't realise what had happened at the time and only made the discovery when they were looking through their photos of the outing the next day.

Brook, 12, from Hornchurch, Havering, told The Sun: "I was totally freaked out. I didn't see anything.

"People say the room goes cold when ghosts appear but we had no idea. We haven't slept properly since."

Photography expert Auriole Prince told the newspaper she couldn't find any signs the image had been tampered with.

She added: "You can pretty much manipulate anything if you're good enough - but you'd have to be an expert to get an image like this."

Dame Sybil died from after contracting smallpox in 1562.

She was a servant at Hampton Court to four Tudor monarchs and nursed Elizabeth I through the disease before succumbing to it herself.

Sightings of her ghost began to be reported in 1829 when the church at the palace was rebuilt and her tomb moved.

Soon after strange noises of a person working a spinning wheel were apparently heard through a wall at Hampton Court.

They led to the discovery of a previously unknown chamber containing an antique spinning wheel.

Hampton Court, home to Henry VIII has a long been famed for its ghosts.

Amongst them the most famous is Henry's fifth wife Catherine Howard who was dragged screaming through the palace after being accused of adultery before she was beheaded in 1541.

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