Tudors The palace was commissioned by
Henry VIII on the remote site of a former
leper hospital dedicated to
Saint James the Less. He first used it as a hunting lodge for his newly enclosed deer park,
St. James's Park. The new palace, secondary in the king's interest to
Whitehall Palace, was constructed between 1531 and 1536 as a smaller residence to escape formal court life. 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. These remain enclosed except for Friary Court, which in modern times is only enclosed by apartments on three sides, the fourth being 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. 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.
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.
Stuarts , 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. 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.
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. 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. this gift was the first part of what later became the
Royal Collection.
George III found St James's unsuitable. The Tudor palace was regarded as uncomfortable and its now built up area 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 Housethe predecessor to
Buckingham Palacefor his queen,
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. In 1809, a fire destroyed part of St James's Palace, including the monarch's private apartments at the south-east corner. 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. 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. The last monarch to take up residence at St. James's, at least part of the year, was
William IV. He had earlier built
Clarence House on adjacent palace grounds and connected to the palace.
Queen Victoria formalised the move to Buckingham in 1837, ending the status of St James's as the primary residence of the monarch; St James's became used during her reign as a venue for courts, levees and other ceremonies. 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.
Proclamation Gallery 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
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. 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. ==Today==