Queen's Chapel


The Queen's Chapel is a chapel in central London, England, that was designed by Inigo Jones and built between 1623 and 1625 as an external adjunct to St. James's Palace for the Roman Catholic queen Henrietta Maria. It is one of the facilities of the British monarch's personal religious establishment, the Chapel Royal, but should not be confused with the 1540 building also known as, Chapel Royal, which is within the palace and just across Marlborough Road. It is a Grade I listed building.

History

It was built as a Roman Catholic chapel at a time when the construction of Catholic churches was prohibited in England, and was used by Charles I's Catholic queen Henrietta Maria, who imported French chapel furnishings. During the English Civil War it was used as a stable. It was refurbished in 1662, and again in the 1680s by Christopher Wren.
From the 1690s it was used by Continental Protestant courtiers. It was built as an integral part of St James's Palace, but when the adjacent private apartments of the monarch burned down in 1809 they were not replaced and in 1856–57 Marlborough Road was built between the palace and the Queen's Chapel. The result is that physically the chapel now appears to be more part of the Marlborough House complex than of St James's Palace. It became a Chapel Royal again in 1938.
Having been taken from the Royal Chapel of All Saints in Windsor Great Park, the body of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother lay at the Queen's Chapel for several days during the preparations for her lying-in-state in Westminster Hall before her ceremonial funeral.

Architecture

The brick building is rendered to appear as if it were stone built. It was built in a Palladian style. It has gable ends with pediments. The interior vault is gilded and painted.

Gallery