| St James's Palace | |
|---|---|
 The north gatehouse, main entrance of St James's Palace inPall Mall | |
 Interactive map of St James's Palace | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Tudor |
| Location | London, England |
| Coordinates | 51°30′17″N00°08′16″W / 51.50472°N 0.13778°W /51.50472; -0.13778 |
| Construction started | 1531; 494 years ago (1531) |
| Completed | 1536; 489 years ago (1536) |
| Client | Henry VIII |
| Owner | King Charles III in right ofthe Crown |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
| Official name | St James's Palace, Garden Walls, Marlborough Gate, etc. |
| Designated | 5 February 1970 |
| Reference no. | 1264851 |
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St James's Palace is the most senior royal palace inLondon, England. The palace gives its name to theCourt of St James's, which is the monarch'sroyal court, and is located in theCity of Westminster. Although no longer the principal residence of the monarch, it is the ceremonial meeting place of theAccession Council, the office of theMarshal of the Diplomatic Corps, and the London residence of several members of theroyal family.
Built by order of KingHenry VIII in the 1530s on the site of an isolated leper hospital dedicated toSaint James the Less, the palace was secondary in importance to thePalace of Whitehall for mostTudor andStuart monarchs. Initially surrounded by a deer park and gardens, it was generally used as a hunting lodge and as a retreat from the formal court and occasionally as a royal guest house. After thePalace of Whitehall burned down, the palace took on administrative functions for the monarchy. It increased in importance during the reigns of theHanoverian monarchs but began to be displaced byBuckingham Palace in the early 19th century. After decades of being used increasingly only for formal occasions, the move was formalised byQueen Victoria in 1837.
The palace now houses a number of offices and official societies and collections. All ambassadors and high commissioners to the United Kingdom are still accredited to the Court of St James's. The palace'sChapel Royal is still used for functions of theBritish royal family. Official receptions are also regularly hosted at the palace.
The palace was built mainly between 1531 and 1536 inred brick, and its architecture is primarilyTudor in style. TheQueen's Chapel was added in the 1620s, andClarence House was built on palace grounds directly next to the Palace in the 1820s. A fire in 1809 destroyed parts of the palace, including the monarch's private apartments, which were never replaced. Some 17th-century interiors survive, but most were remodelled in the 19th century.
The palace was commissioned byHenry VIII on the remote site of a formerleper hospital dedicated toSaint James the Less.[n 1] He first used it as a hunting lodge for his newly enclosed deer park,St. James's Park.[2] The new palace, secondary in the king's interest toWhitehall Palace, was constructed between 1531 and 1536 as a smaller residence to escape formal court life.[3]
Much smaller than the nearby Whitehall, St James's is arranged around four courtyards: the Colour Court, the Ambassador's Court, the Engine Court and theFriary Court. These remain enclosed except for Friary Court, which in modern times is only enclosed by apartments on three sides, the fourth being open to Marlborough Road to accommodate public gatherings. The most recognisable feature of the palace is the north gatehouse; constructed with four storeys, the gatehouse has twocrenellated flanking octagonal towers at its corners, and a central clock dominating the uppermost floor and gable; the clock is a later addition and dates from 1731, refurbished 1834.[4] The palace is decorated with the initialsH.A. for Henry and his second wife,Anne Boleyn. Henry had the palace constructed in red brick, with detail picked out in darker brick.[3]
The palace was remodelled in 1544, with ceilings painted byHans Holbein and was described as a "pleasant royal house".[5] Two of Henry VIII's children died at Saint James's,Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, andMary I.[6][7]Elizabeth I often resided at the palace, and is said to have spent the night there while waiting for theSpanish Armada to sail up the Channel.[5]
Prince Henry, Prince of Wales, the eldest son ofKing James andAnne of Denmark, lived at St James's Palace until his death in 1612. The gardens were improved for him by Alphonsus Fowle.[8] A riding school, one of the first in England, was built for Henry at St James's Palace between 1607 and 1609, and then a library with sculptural decoration byMaximilian Colt. Henry also installed a menagerie with pet birds including a pair ofostriches.[9]
Charles II was born at the palace on 29 May 1630; his parents wereCharles I, who ruled the three kingdoms ofEngland,Scotland andIreland, andHenrietta Maria, the sister of the French kingLouis XIII.James II, the second surviving son of King Charles I and Henrietta Maria, was born at the palace on 14 October 1633.[10]
In 1638, Charles I gave the palace toMarie de Medici, the mother of Henrietta Maria. Marie remained in the palace for three years, but the residence of a Catholic former queen of France proved unpopular with parliament and she was soon asked to leave forCologne. Charles spent his final night at St James's before hisexecution.[1]Oliver Cromwell then took it over, and turned it into barracks during theEnglish Commonwealth period.[1]
The palace was restored by Charles II following the demise of the Commonwealth, landscapingSt James's Park at the same time.Mary II andAnne, Queen of Great Britain, were both born at the palace.[1] It became the principal residence of the monarch in London in 1698, during the reign ofWilliam III, afterWhitehall Palace was destroyed by fire, and became the administrative centre of the monarchy, a role it retains, in part. Also, at the time of the loss of Whitehall, theChapel Royal moved its base into thecastle chapel at St. James's.
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The first two monarchs of theHouse of Hanover used St James's Palace as their principal London residence.George I andGeorge II both housed their mistresses, theDuchess of Kendal and theCountess of Suffolk respectively, at the palace.[1] In 1757, George II donated the Palace library to theBritish Museum;[11] this gift was the first part of what later became theRoyal Collection.[12]
George III found St James's unsuitable. The Tudor palace was regarded as uncomfortable and its now built up area as not affording its residents enough privacy, or the space to withdraw from the court into family life. In 1762, shortly after his wedding, George purchased Buckingham House – the predecessor toBuckingham Palace – for his queen,Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.[13] In 1809, a fire destroyed part of St James's Palace, including the monarch's private apartments at the south-east corner.[14] These apartments were not replaced, leaving theQueen's Chapel isolated from the rest of the palace by an open area, where Marlborough Road now runs between the two buildings.[15] The royal family began spending the majority of their time at Buckingham House, with St James's used for only formal occasions; thrice-weeklylevées and public audiences were still held there. In the late 18th century, George III refurbished thestate apartments but neglected the living quarters.[16] The last monarch to take up residence at St. James's, at least part of the year, wasWilliam IV. He had earlier builtClarence House on adjacent palace grounds and connected to the palace.Queen Victoria formalised the move to Buckingham in 1837, ending the status of St James's as the primary residence of the monarch; St James's became used during her reign as a venue for courts, levees and other ceremonies.[17] It was nevertheless where Victoria married her husband,Prince Albert, in 1840, and where, eighteen years later, their eldest child,Princess Victoria married her husband,Prince Frederick of Prussia.[1]
In 1912–1913 the palace was the venue for the international conference that arranged thetreaty between the Balkan states and theOttoman Empire following the twoBalkan Wars.[17]Edward VIII when Prince of Wales used the palace as his 'town' residence until he moved intoMarlborough House, andGeorge VI as Duke of York resided there prior to his marriage in 1923.[17] The Second Round Table Conference (September–December 1931), pertaining to Indian independence, was held at the palace. On 12 June 1941, Representatives of the United Kingdom,Canada,Australia,New Zealand, theUnion of South Africa, and of the exiled governments ofBelgium,Czechoslovakia,Greece,Luxembourg,Netherlands,Norway,Poland, andYugoslavia, as well asGeneral Charles de Gaulle of France, met and signed theDeclaration of St James's Palace, which was the first of six treaties signed that established theUnited Nations and composed theCharter of the United Nations.[18]
The Proclamation Gallery is a part of St James's Palace, and it is used after the death of a reigning monarch. TheAccession Council meets to declare the new monarch. Once the monarch has made a sacred oath to the council, theGarter King of Arms steps onto the Proclamation Gallery, which overlooksFriary Court, to proclaim the new monarch.[19][20] Such an event last occurred on 10 September 2022 at the proclamation of KingCharles III. To allow the Garter King of Arms and the trumpeters access to the balcony, workers removed the centre window the prior day and installed a temporary door.[21]
St James's Palace is still a working palace, and the Royal Court is still formally based there, despite the monarch residing elsewhere. It is also the London residence ofPrincess Anne,Princess Beatrice, andPrincess Alexandra. The palace is used to host official receptions, such as those of visiting heads of state, and charities of which members of the royal family are patrons. It forms part of a sprawling complex of buildings housing Court offices and officials' apartments. The immediate palace complex includesYork House, the former home ofCharles III and his sons, PrincesWilliam andHarry.Lancaster House, located next door, is used byHM Government for official receptions, and the attachedClarence House, the former home of theQueen Mother, is the residence ofKing Charles III andQueen Camilla.[22] The palace also served as the official residence ofPrincess Eugenie until April 2018.[23]
The nearbyQueen's Chapel, built byInigo Jones, although since the 19th century across Marlborough Road, is still considered part of the Palace. While the Queen's Chapel is open to the public at selected times, theChapel Royal in the palace is not accessible to the public. They both remain active places of worship.[22]
The offices of theRoyal Collection Department, theMarshal of the Diplomatic Corps, theCentral Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood, theChapel Royal, theGentlemen at Arms, theYeomen of the Guard and theKing's Watermen are all housed at St James's Palace. Since the beginning of the 2000s, theRoyal Philatelic Collection has been housed at St James's Palace, after spending the entire 20th century atBuckingham Palace.[22]
On 1 June 2007, the palace,Clarence House and other buildings within itscurtilage (other than public pavement on Marlborough Road) were designated as a protected site for the purposes of Section 128 of theSerious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, making it a specific criminal offence for a person totrespass into the site.[24]
Until December 2014,sentries were posted outside the palace's entrance on Pall Mall, which is located on the public street. However, following both theterrorist attack on the Canadian Parliament, and themurder of a British soldier, the Pall Mall sentries were moved to Friary Court inside the palace's walls as a result of the potential threat of so-called "lone wolf attacks".[25]
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| Geographic | |
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