St James's Palace

The palace was commissioned by Henry VIII on the remote site of a former leper hospital dedicated to Saint 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 to Henry's Whitehall 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 the Friary Court. The four courts remain enclosed, except for Friary Court, which in modern times is only enclosed by apartments on three sides, with the fourth side 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 two 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 Hans 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, 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]

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]

Charles II was born at the palace on 29 May 1630; his parents were Charles I, who ruled the three kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, and 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 Marie 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 for Cologne. Charles spent his final night at St James's before his execution.[1] Oliver Cromwell then took it over, and turned it into barracks during the English Commonwealth period.[1]

The palace was restored by Charles II following the demise of the Commonwealth, landscaping St James's Park at the same time. Mary II and Anne, 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 of William III, after 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.

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]

George III found St James's unsuitable. The Tudor palace was regarded as uncomfortable and also 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 to Buckingham 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 the Queen'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-weekly levées and public audiences were still held there. In the late 18th century, George III refurbished the state apartments but neglected the living quarters.[16] The last monarch to take up residence at St. James's, at least part of the year, was William IV. Queen Victoria formalised the move in 1837, ending the status of St James's as the primary residence of the monarch; it 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 the treaty between the Balkan states and Turkey following the two Balkan Wars.[17] Edward VIII when Prince of Wales used the palace as his 'town' residence until he moved into Marlborough House, and 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]

The Proclamation Gallery overlooking Friary Court at St James's Palace, London, where the proclamation 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 Accession Council meets to declare the new monarch. Once the monarch has made a sacred oath to the council, 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]