Feast of the Martyrdom of S.Charles, 30th January
Saturday 30 January 2016 11.30am Chapel Royal Hampton Court Palace. Everyone Welcome.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The interior of the Banqueting House, Whitehall is undergoing conservation. The Society will not be able to celebrate its usual Mass there in 2016. We will instead hold our Commemoration and Sung Mass at the Chapel of Hampton Court Palace by Kind Permission and Invitation of the Chaplain Fr Anthony Howe. King Charles resided in the palace and the Andrea Mantegna paintings, The Triumphs of Caesar, which he acquired for the Royal Collection can still be seen. The puritans held S. Charles prisoner at the palace but he managed to escape by climbing out of a window.
11.30am 30 January 2016. The Chapel Royal Hampton Court Palace. Preacher: The Revd. Canon Paul Conrad, Vicar of Christ Church, Hampstead. With signers and organist from the Chapels Royal.
When the 30th January falls on a Sunday it is customary to transfer the observance to the preceding Saturday.
The Society’s relics of S. Charles are placed upon the altar for the Mass and may be venerated and viewed after the service. A choir, usually from King’s College, London sings at the Mass. The Banqueting House is where S. Charles was kept for several hours on the day of his decollation. It is a magnificent setting for the Mass: the architect was Inigo Jones and the ceiling adorned by the great paintings of Rubens.
The Society is very grateful to the Historic Royal Palaces for their permission to hold the Mass. Access to the Banqueting House for the commemoration and Mass is free of charge. The costs of the service are considerable and donations gratefully received. SKCM also provides a bookstall after the Mass when materials are available.
A good description of the commemoration of 30th can be found in Jeremy Paxman’s book, On Royalty (Penguin-Viking 2006) p.142-152