St James's Palace

Coordinates: 51°30′17″N 00°08′16″W / 51.50472°N 0.13778°W / 51.50472; -0.13778
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not to be confused with St James's Place.

St James's Palace
The north gatehouse, main entrance of St James's Palace in Pall Mall
Map
General information
Architectural styleTudor
LocationLondon, United Kingdom
Coordinates51°30′17″N 00°08′16″W / 51.50472°N 0.13778°W / 51.50472; -0.13778
Construction started1531; 493 years ago (1531)
Completed1536; 488 years ago (1536)
ClientHenry VIII
OwnerKing Charles III in right of the Crown

St James's Palace is the most senior royal palace in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. The palace gives its name to the Court of St James's, which is the monarch's royal court, and is located in the City of Westminster in London. Although no longer the principal residence of the monarch, it is the ceremonial meeting place of the Accession Council, the office of the Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps, and the London residence of several members of the royal family.

Built by order of King

Saint James the Less, the palace was secondary in importance to the Palace of Whitehall for most Tudor and Stuart 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 the Palace of Whitehall burned down, the palace took on administrative functions for the monarchy. It increased in importance during the reigns of the Hanoverian monarchs but began to be displaced by Buckingham Palace in the early 19th century. After decades of being used increasingly only for formal occasions, the move was formalised by Queen Victoria
in 1837.

The palace now houses a number of offices, official societies and collections, and all ambassadors and high commissioners to the United Kingdom are still accredited to the Court of St James's. The palace's Chapel Royal is still used for functions of the British royal family. Official receptions are also regularly hosted at the palace.

The palace was mainly built between 1531 and 1536 in

red brick, and its architecture is primarily Tudor in style. The Queen's Chapel was added in the 1620s, and Clarence 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.

History

Tudors

The palace was commissioned by

crenellated 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 initials H.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 by

Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, and Mary I.[6][7] Elizabeth I often resided at the palace, and is said to have spent the night there while waiting for the Spanish Armada to sail up the Channel.[5]

Stuarts

St James's Palace, left, and The Mall, 1715

Prince Henry, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of King James and Anne 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 by Maximilian Colt. Henry also installed a menagerie with pet birds including a pair of ostriches.[9]

Henrietta Maria, the sister of the French king Louis 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 to

English Commonwealth period.[1]

The palace was restored by Charles II following the demise of the Commonwealth, landscaping

Whitehall 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, the Chapel Royal moved its base into the castle chapel
at St. James's.

Hanoverians

Queen Victoria's wedding to Prince Albert in the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace, painting by George Hayter, 1842
The Chapel Royal, St James's Palace, showing the marriage of the future King George V (1893), by Laurits Tuxen. Royal Collection.

The first two monarchs of the House of Hanover used St James's Palace as their principal London residence. George I and George II both housed their mistresses, the Duchess of Kendal and the Countess of Suffolk respectively, at the palace.[1] In 1757, George II donated the Palace library to the British Museum;[11] this gift was the first part of what later became the Royal Collection.[12]

Prince Frederick of Prussia.[1]

St James's Palace in 1819
  • North Front
    North Front
  • King's Presence Chamber
    King's Presence Chamber
  • Queen's Levée Room
    Queen's Levée Room
  • Guard Chamber
    Guard Chamber
From a series of paintings by Charles Wild, as published in William Henry Pyne (1819), The History of the Royal Residences.

20th century

In 1912–1913 the palace was the venue for the international conference that arranged the

George 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, the Union of South Africa, and of the exiled governments of Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Yugoslavia, as well as General Charles de Gaulle of France, met and signed the Declaration of St James's Palace, which was the first of six treaties signed that established the United Nations and composed the Charter of the United Nations.[18]

Proclamation Gallery

The Proclamation Gallery overlooking Friary Court at St James's Palace, London, where the proclamation of a new monarch is traditionally first read

The Proclamation Gallery is a part of St James's Palace, and it is used after the death of a reigning monarch. The

Garter King of Arms steps onto the Proclamation Gallery, which overlooks Friary Court, to proclaim the new monarch.[19][20] Such an event last occurred on 10 September 2022 at the proclamation of King Charles 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]

Today

Friary Court at St James's Palace, 2017

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 of

HM Government for official receptions, and the attached Clarence House, the former home of the Queen Mother, is the residence of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.[22] The palace also served as the official residence of Princess Eugenie until April 2018.[23]

The nearby Queen's Chapel, built by Inigo 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, the Chapel Royal in the palace is not accessible to the public. They both remain active places of worship.[22]

The offices of the

Gentlemen at Arms, the Yeomen of the Guard and the King's Watermen are all housed at St James's Palace. Since the beginning of the 2000s, the Royal Philatelic Collection has been housed at St James's Palace, after spending the entire 20th century at Buckingham Palace.[22]

On 1 June 2007, the palace, Clarence House and other buildings within its curtilage (other than public pavement on Marlborough Road) were designated as a protected site for the purposes of Section 128 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, making it a specific criminal offence for a person to trespass into the site.[24]

See also

Notes

  1. James the Just, brother of Jesus, was referred to as Bishop of Jerusalem, not James the Less.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Walford, Edward (1878). "St James's Palace". Old and New London: Volume 4. Institute of Historical Research. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  2. ^ "St James's Park: Landscape History". The Royal Parks. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-1-5988-4298-2. Archived
    from the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  4. ^ Walford, Edward (1878). "Chapter IX: St James's Palace" Archived 21 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Old and New London. London: Cassell, Petter & Galpin. Via British History Online. Accessed 9 September 2022.
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8511-5633-0
    .
  6. ^ "St James's Palace: History". The British Monarchy. n.d. Archived from the original on 9 March 2009. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  7. ISBN 978-1-1080-2807-3
    .
  8. ^ Shepperd, Edgar (1894). "Memorials of St. James's Palace". Vol. 1 London: Longmans Green. pp. 66-7. (registration required)
  9. ISBN 978-0-5000-1375-5. Archived
    from the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  10. ^ Miller, 1
  11. ^ Warner, George (1912). Queen Mary's Psalter Miniatures and Drawings by an English Artist of the 14th Century Reproduced from Royal Ms. 2 B. Vii in the British Museum (PDF). London: Britism Museum. p. n. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 May 2020. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
  12. ^ "Books and Manuscripts". Royal Collection. Archived from the original on 14 April 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
  13. ISBN 978-0-3540-4529-2
    .
  14. ^ "Royal Residences: St James's Palace". The Royal Family. 23 November 2015. Archived from the original on 1 October 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  15. ^ Bulo, Kate (9 January 2018). "St. James' Palace: Henry VIII knocked down a hospital for women with leprosy to build another royal residence". The Vintage News. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  16. ISBN 978-0-3001-4238-9
    .
  17. ^ a b c A Pictorial and Descriptive Guide to London. London: Ward, Lock & Co Ltd. 1928. p. 108.
  18. ^ "1941: The Declaration of St. James' Palace". United Nations. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  19. ISBN 978-0-7704-3220-1
    .
  20. ISBN 978-0-4700-5931-9
    .
  21. ^ "St James's Palace window removed to let King Charles proclamation ring out from balcony". The Daily Telegraph. London. 10 September 2022. Archived from the original on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2022 – via MSN.
  22. ^ a b c "St James's Palace: Today". The British Monarchy. n.d. Archived from the original on 9 March 2009. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  23. ^ Perry, Simon (1 May 2018). "Princess Eugenie and Her Fiancé Jack Brooksbank Just Moved Next Door to Harry and Meghan!". People. Archived from the original on 18 February 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  24. ^ "Home Office Circular 018 / 2007 (Trespass on protected sites - sections 128–131 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005)". Home Office. 22 May 2007. Archived from the original on 17 October 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.

Additional reading

  • Wolf Burchard, 'St James's Palace: George II and Queen Caroline's Principal London Residence', The Court Historian (2011), pp. 177–203.
  • Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England: London 6: Westminster (2003), pp 594–601

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to St. James's Palace.
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