You wouldn’t expect to have to get planning permission to move a couple of wardrobes around – but when they are in the bedroom of a former queen you do.

Hever Castle near Sevenoaks was built in the 13th century and is Grade I-listed.

The popular tourist attraction has many interesting stories to tell. The principal one is that of the Boleyn family who occupied the castle from 1461 to 1539.

It was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn who was later to marry, and then be executed by, Henry VIII – but not before she had given birth to a daughter who was to become arguably the country’s most successful monarch, Elizabeth I.

The second story Hever has to tell is that of the Astor family – the wealthy Americans who purchased it in 1903 and spent five years and vast sums redeveloping it as a Tudor castle of old, but with all the modern conveniences of the early 20th century.

William Waldorf Astor was reputedly America’s richest man when he moved to England in 1891, with a personal fortune of $100 million.

His descendants remained at Hever until 1983 when it was sold to the present owner, John Guthrie.

The trouble is, the castle’s owners feel, is that the two stories are too often confused for visitors.

A project is under way to disentangle the two histories so visitors will be able to immerse themselves fully in one historical time period or the other.

In particular, it is intended to restore two rooms currently set out as they were in the time of the Astors and return them to how they would have been in Anne Boleyn’s day.

This has resulted in a planning application to remove some built-in wardrobes which were actually only installed in the 1970s, which sub-divide the space that was the queen’s old bedroom.

In addition, it is intended to remove the bathroom fittings from what was Lady Irene Astor’s pink bathroom, also dating from the 1970s, and to restore the room to resemble its Tudor use as Anne Boleyn’s closet or study.

It will be refurnished with a medieval writing desk with a model of Anne herself.

The bathroom will be recreated in one of the new rooms of the Astor Wing.

A third facet of the castle’s history will also be given more weight – that of the influence of Anne of Cleves, another of Henry ’VIII’s six wives.

It was she who had the castle’s Long Gallery constructed, but that’s another story.

Details of the planning application can be found here.

Search for application number 23/02653.