Michelle Obama is a home shopper. The Queen apparently is too, as well as being a catalogue owner selling souvenirs at various palaces and stately homes.
But Henry VIII? He of the six wives, big girth and 16th century bloodthirstiness fame?
Now we must add 'celebrity home shopper' to this list of attributes.
Wandering around the 'Dressed to kill' Henry VIII exhibition at the Tower of London last week, I stumbled across a nugget. The glass cases featured armour and weapons that were custom made for the king way back in the 16th century.
Henry's PR was as a man of action who built his identity around his military and sporting prowess. Not surprisingly, the King of England wanted the best, most flexible, most fashionable armour - complete with enormous codpieces.
But he had to order it all from Italy and Germany.
Okay, so it's not likely Big Hal picked his armour from a catalogue or website but he was liable to return the kit, in true home shopping style, if he found he couldn't do handstands in it (a reliable test of good armour, apparently).
His other attempt at home shopping, when he hooked up with mail order bride Anne of Cleves, was a disaster. The Holbein portrait of Anne was said to have misrepresented and missold the product.
Now, where was the DMA's client complaint body, the Direct Marketing Commission, when Henry needed it?
