Main entrance of St. James's Palace in Pall Mall survives from Henry VIII's palace.

St. James's Palace is one of London's oldest palaces. It is situated in Pall Mall, just north of St. James's Park. Although no sovereign has resided there for almost two centuries, it has remained the official residence of the Sovereign^[1][2] and the most senior royal palace in the UK. For this reason it gives its name to the Royal Court (the "Court of St James's").^[1][2] It is the ceremonial gathering place of the Accession Council which proclaims a new sovereign.

History[link]

The palace was commissioned by Henry VIII, on the site of a former leper hospital dedicated to Saint James the Less,^[3] from which the Palace and its nearby Park retain their names; the hospital was disbanded in 1532.^[4] The new palace, secondary in the king's interest to Henry's Whitehall Palace, was constructed between 1531 and 1536 in the red-brick Tudor style around four courtyards: its gatehouse (illustration) survives on the north side, flanked by polygonal turrets with mock battlements, fitted with Georgian sash windows.

Two of Henry VIII's children died there: Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset and Mary I (Mary's heart and bowels were buried in the palace's Chapel Royal). Elizabeth I was said to have spent the night there while waiting for the Spanish Armada to sail up the channel. Charles I slept rather less soundly—as it was his final bed before his execution. Oliver Cromwell then took it over, and turned it into barracks during the English Commonwealth period. It was then restored by Charles II (Charles I's son), who also laid out St. James's Park. It became the principal residence of the monarch in London in 1698, during the reign of William III and Mary II after Whitehall Palace was destroyed by fire, and became the administrative centre of the monarchy, a role it retains.

St James's Palace and Pall Mall by Jan Kip, 1715.

The first three Georges used St James's Palace as their principal London residence even though it was far from grand for the city palace of a major European monarchy; Daniel Defoe called it "low and mean" in 1725. For most of the time of the personal union between Great Britain (later the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland) and the Electorate of Hanover (later Kingdom of Hanover) from 1714 until 1837 the ministers of the German Chancery were working in two small rooms within St James's Palace. In 1757, George II donated the Palace library to the British Museum;^[5] this gift was the first part of what later became the Royal Collection.^[6]

In 1809 a fire destroyed part of the palace, including the monarch's private apartments at the south east corner. These apartments were not replaced, leaving the Queen's Chapel in isolation, and Marlborough Road now runs between the two buildings. George III had purchased Buckingham House – the predecessor to Buckingham Palace – for his queen back in 1762, and St James's continued to decline in importance in the first half of the 19th century. It increasingly came to be used only for formal occasions such as official receptions, royal marriages, and christenings. Queen Victoria formalised the move in 1837, ending St James's status as the primary residence of the monarch. Some structures and interiors survive by Sir Christopher Wren and William Kent, but most was remodelled in the nineteenth century. William Morris and his firm were commissioned to redecorate the Armoury and the Tapestry Room, 1866-67.^[4]

Diana, Princess of Wales's coffin was kept for a few days at the Chapel Royal at the Palace before being taken to Kensington Palace on the eve of her funeral at the Westminster Abbey in September 1997.

Notable people born at St James's Palace[link]

• Anne, Queen of Great Britain
• William Neville Hart
• Charles II of England

Today[link]

Sentry of the Grenadier Guards posted at the main entrance in Pall Mall

St James's Palace is still a working palace, and the Royal Court is still formally based there – foreign ambassadors are still accredited to the Court of St James's, even though they are received by the monarch at Buckingham Palace. It is also the London residence of the Princess Royal, Princess Beatrice of York and Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy. The Palace forms part of a sprawling complex of buildings housing Court offices and officials' apartments. The immediate palace complex includes York House, the former home of the Prince of Wales and his sons, Princes William and Harry. Lancaster House located next-door, is used by HM Government for official receptions, and the nearby Clarence House, the home of the late Queen Mother is now the residence of the Prince of Wales.

The Queen's Chapel, built by Inigo Jones, adjoins St James's Palace. While the Chapel is open to the public at selected times, the palace is not accessible to the public. St James's Palace is one of the four buildings in London where guards from the Household Division can be seen (the other three are Buckingham Palace, The Tower of London and Horse Guards).

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.

From October 2008 onwards, and officially from 6 January 2009, the staff of Princes William and Harry moved into their own rooms in St James's Palace and began reporting directly to the royal princes for the first time. In addition, the staff also began serving Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge upon her marriage to Prince William in 2011. Prior to 2008, the brothers' duties were looked after by the Prince of Wales' office at Clarence House.^[7]

References[link]

External links[link]

London portal

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

• Read a detailed historical record on St James Palace
• Historic photos of St James' Palace
• Edward Walford, 'St James's Palace', Old and New London Vol. 4 (1878:100-122). Date accessed: 22 February 2008.
• The Royal Household: about St James's Palace
• Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England: London 6: Westminster (2003), pp 594–601
• Friends of Cathedral Music
• St James's Palace tourist guide

v t e Royal palaces and residences in the United Kingdom Occupied Bagshot Park Balmoral Castle Birkhall Buckingham Palace Clarence House Gatcombe Park Highgrove House Hillsborough Castle Holyrood Palace St James's Palace Kensington Palace Llwynywermod Royal Lodge Sandringham House Thatched House Lodge Windsor Castle Historical Palace of Beaulieu Beaumont Palace Brantridge Park Bridewell Palace Coombe Abbey Coppins Carlton House Claremont Cumberland Lodge Doune Castle Dunfermline Palace Edinburgh Castle Eltham Palace Falkland Palace Fort Belvedere Hampton Court Palace Havering Palace Kew Palace Kings Langley Palace Linlithgow Palace Marlborough House Castle of Mey Nonsuch Palace Oatlands Palace Osborne House Palace of Placentia Queen's House Ribsden Holt Richmond Palace Royal Pavilion Savoy Palace Stirling Castle Sunninghill Park Tower of London Palace of Westminster Palace of Whitehall White Lodge Woodstock Palace

Coordinates: 51°30′17″N 0°08′15″W / 51.50472°N 0.1375°W / 51.50472; -0.1375

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2009)

Coordinates: 51°30′31″N 0°07′59″W / 51.5085°N 0.1330°W / 51.5085; -0.1330

St James's
St James's  St James's shown within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ295805
London borough	Westminster
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	SW1
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
EU Parliament	London
UK Parliament	Cities of London and Westminster
London Assembly	West Central
List of places: UK • England • London

St James's is an area of central London in the City of Westminster. It is bounded to the north by Piccadilly, to the west by Green Park, to the south by The Mall and St. James's Park and to the east by Haymarket.

History[link]

St James's was once part of the same royal park as Green Park and St. James's Park. In the 1660s, Charles II gave the right to develop the area to Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans, who proceeded to develop it as a predominantly aristocratic residential area with a grid of streets centred on St James's Square.

Until the Second World War, St James's remained one of the most exclusive residential enclaves in London. Famous residences in St James's include St James's Palace, Clarence House, Marlborough House, Lancaster House, Spencer House, Schomberg House and Bridgewater House. It is now a predominantly commercial area with some of the highest rents in London and, consequently, the world. Corporate offices in St James's include the global headquarters of BP. The auction house Christie's is based in King Street, and the surrounding streets contain a great many upmarket art and antique dealers.

St James's is also the home of many of the best known gentlemen's clubs in London, and is sometimes, though not as often as formerly, referred to as "Clubland".^[1] The "clubs" found here are organisations of English high society. A variety of groups congregate here, such as royals, military officers, motoring enthusiasts, and other groups. In 1990, the Carlton Club, traditional meeting place for members of the Conservative Party, was struck by an IRA bomb. See List of London's gentlemen's clubs. In a similar vein, the area is also home to fine wine merchants including Berry Brothers and Rudd, at number 3 St James's Street. Adjoining St James's Street is Jermyn Street, famous for its many tailors. St James's is also famous for being home to some of the most famous cigar retailers in London. At 35 St James's Street is Davidoff of London, 19 St James's Street is home to J.J. Fox and 50 Jermyn St has Dunhill; this makes the area a Cuban cigar haven.

BP head office in St. James's

White Cube gallery in Mason's Yard, St James's

The area has a good number of art galleries, covering a spectrum of tastes. The White Cube gallery, which represents Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin, had originally opened in Duke Street, St James's, then moved to Hoxton Square. In September 2006, it opened a second gallery in St James's at 25–26 Mason's Yard, off Duke Street, on a plot previously occupied by an electricity sub-station. The gallery is the first free-standing building to be built in the St James's area for more than 30 years.

Notable streets[link]

These include:

• St James's Square, which retains many of its original houses, but is mostly in office use. The London Library is located here.
• Jermyn Street, an upmarket retail street best known for its bespoke shirtmakers and shops offering the finest gentlemen's attire.
• Pall Mall, which contains many of London's most venerable gentlemen's clubs.
• Haymarket was once the best known centre of prostitution in London, but no trace of this remains now. It contains two of London's most historic theatres, the Haymarket Theatre and Her Majesty's Theatre.
• Carlton House Terrace, a pair of grand terraces of houses designed by John Nash overlooking St. James's Park.
• St James's Street which runs down from Piccadilly to St James's Palace.

Economy[link]

BP is headquartered in St. James's.^[2]

Education[link]

References[link]

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (August 2009)

External links[link]

London portal

• St James Westminster, Part 1 - a volume of the Survey of London which provides a very detailed architectural history of most of St James's. However a few sections of the parish of St James's fall outside the district, so they are omitted (map).
• Map of St James's and surrounding areas
• Clubland at Virtual London
• Tourist Information on St James's

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