# Queen's Chapel

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Anglican chapel in London

Church in London, England

Queen's Chapel Marlborough Road front Queen's Chapel 51°30′18″N 0°08′13″W / 51.50500°N 0.13694°W / 51.50500; -0.13694 Location London Country England Denomination Church of England Architecture Architect Inigo Jones Years built 1623–1625

The **Queen's Chapel** (officially, *The Queen's Chapel St James's Palace* and previously the **German Chapel**) is a chapel in central [London](/source/London), England. Designed by [Inigo Jones](/source/Inigo_Jones), it was built between 1623 and 1625 as an adjunct to [St James's Palace](/source/St_James's_Palace), initially as a Catholic chapel for the [Infanta Maria Anna of Spain](/source/Infanta_Maria_Anna_of_Spain), Holy Roman Empress, who in the end never used it because she didn't marry King Charles I of England. Afterwards, it was used by the woman he did marry, Queen [Henrietta Maria of France](/source/Henrietta_Maria_of_France), a Catholic, and her retinue. In later years, it served various continental Protestants who were resident at Court. It is one of the facilities of the British monarch's household religious establishment, the [Chapel Royal](/source/Chapel_Royal), but should not be confused with the 1540 liturgical building also known as the *[Chapel Royal](/source/Chapel_Royal#St_James's_Palace)*, which is within the palace, just across Marlborough Road. Queen's Chapel is a [Grade I](/source/Grade_I) listed building.[1]

## History

The Queen's Chapel was built as a Catholic chapel at a time when the construction of churches for that denomination was otherwise prohibited in England, and was used by [Charles I](/source/Charles_I_of_England)'s wife French Queen [Henrietta Maria](/source/Henrietta_Maria_of_France), who imported chapel furnishings from France.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] During the [English Civil War](/source/English_Civil_War) it was used as a stable.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] It was refurbished in 1662,[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] and again in the 1680s by [Christopher Wren](/source/Christopher_Wren). From the 1690s the chapel was used by the [Continental Protestant](/source/Continental_Reformed_Protestantism) courtiers of [William](/source/William_III_of_England) and [Mary](/source/Mary_II_of_England). In 1718, the chapel was given over to German courtiers of [George I](/source/George_I_of_Great_Britain) who had moved to England with him. The chapel was then called the *German Chapel*.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] On 17 September 1782 the German organist [Augustus Frederic Christopher Kollmann](/source/Augustus_Frederic_Christopher_Kollmann) began work at the Royal German Chapel and he was there for the rest of his life.[2] He was succeeded by his son George Augustus Kollmann and his daughter Johanna Sophia Kollmann who died in 1849.[3]

It became an administered [Chapel Royal](/source/Chapel_Royal) again in 1938.[4]

The chapel 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 laid out 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](/source/Marlborough_House) complex than of St James's Palace.[4]

The body of [Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother](/source/Queen_Elizabeth_The_Queen_Mother) lay at the Queen's Chapel for several days in 2002, during the preparations for her lying-in-state in [Westminster Hall](/source/Palace_of_Westminster#Westminster_Hall) before her [ceremonial funeral](/source/Death_and_funeral_of_Queen_Elizabeth_The_Queen_Mother).[5][6]

## Architecture

The brick building is rendered to appear as if it were stone built.[1] It was built in a [Palladian](/source/Palladian_architecture) style.[7] It has [gable](/source/Gable) ends with [pediments](/source/Pediment). The interior vault is gilded and painted.[1]

## Gallery

		- East and North walls from Marlborough House grounds

		- The Queen's Chapel in 1688 after refurnishing by [Christopher Wren](/source/Christopher_Wren) in 1682–1684

		- The German Chapel in 1819

		- Plaque next to the Queen's Chapel

## See also

- [Savoy Chapel](/source/Savoy_Chapel)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-nhle_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-nhle_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-nhle_1-2) ["Queen's Chapel"](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1273605). *National Heritage List for England*. Historic England. Retrieved 15 March 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-kass_2-0)** Kassler, Michael (2004). [*The English Bach Awakening: Knowledge Of J.s. Bach And His Music In England 1750–1830*](https://books.google.com/books?id=OkiW--37TGAC&pg=PA112). Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 20-22. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-84014-666-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-84014-666-0). Retrieved 2 February 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Kassler, Michael (23 September 2004). [*Kollmann, Augustus Frederic Christopher (1756–1829), music theorist*](http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-15805). Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1093/ref:odnb/15805](https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fref%3Aodnb%2F15805).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-bradley_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-bradley_4-1) Bradley, Simon (2001), "The Queen's Chapel in the Twentieth Century", *Architectural History*, **44**: 293–302, [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.2307/1568758](https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1568758), [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [1568758](https://www.jstor.org/stable/1568758)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Guard_5-0)** ["Gun salutes honour Queen Mother"](https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/apr/01/queenmother.monarchy5). The Guardian. Retrieved 21 July 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-timms_6-0)** Timms, Elizabeth Jane. ["The Queen's Chapel, St James's"](https://royalcentral.co.uk/features/the-queens-chapel-st-jamess-102570/). Royal Central. Retrieved 15 March 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["The Queen's Chapel (St James's Palace)"](https://openhouselondon.open-city.org.uk/listings/1437). Open House London. Retrieved 15 March 2020.[*[permanent dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*]

## Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Queen's Chapel, St James' Palace](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Queen%27s_Chapel,_St_James%27_Palace).

- *[The Buildings of England](/source/The_Buildings_of_England) London 6: Westminster* (2003) pages 587–88.

- ["The Chapel Royal, St James's Palace"](https://www.royal.uk/chapelroyal). Retrieved 8 December 2019. (note services page not updated since 2018)

v t e Chapel Royal Canada Christ Church Royal Chapel, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory Her Majesty's Royal Chapel of the Mohawks, Brantford St Catherine's Chapel, Toronto United Kingdom Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace Queen's Chapel, St. James's Palace Kensington Palace Chapel St John's Chapel, London St. Peter ad Vincula, London Savoy Chapel, London St Katherine-upon-the-Hoe, Plymouth Former Chapel Royal, Brighton Chapel Royal, Dublin

v t e Churches in the City of Westminster Ancient parish churches (pre-1800) St Anne, Soho St Clement Danes St George, Hanover Square St James, Piccadilly St Margaret, Westminster St Martin-in-the-Fields St Marylebone St Mary le Strand St Paul, Covent Garden Anglican daughter churches All Saints, Margaret Street All Souls, Langham Place Annunciation, Marble Arch Christ Church, Down Street Grosvenor Chapel, Mayfair Guards' Chapel, Wellington Barracks Holy Trinity, South Kensington St Augustine, Kilburn St Cyprian, Clarence Gate St Gabriel, Pimlico St James, Paddington St James the Less, Pimlico St John's Wood Church St Mark, Hamilton Terrace St Mary, Bourne Street St Mary, Bryanston Square St Mary, Paddington Green St Mary Magdalene, Paddington St Matthew, Bayswater St Matthew, Westminster St Paul, Knightsbridge St Peter, Eaton Square St Saviour, Pimlico St Stephen, Rochester Row St Stephen, Westbourne Park deconsecrated Christ Church, Marylebone Holy Trinity, Marylebone St Mark, North Audley Street St Peter, Vere Street Royal peculiars Henry VII Chapel Queen's Chapel, St James's Palace Savoy Chapel St Mary Undercroft Westminster Abbey Catholic churches Roman Westminster Cathedral Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane Immaculate Conception, Farm Street Notre Dame de France Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory, Warwick Street St Charles Borromeo, Westminster St James, Spanish Place St Mary of the Angels, Bayswater St Patrick, Soho Square Ukrainian Cathedral of the Holy Family in Exile, Mayfair other denominations Crown Court Church, Covent Garden Dormition Cathedral Enon Chapel French Protestant Church, Soho Hinde Street Methodist Church Regent Hall St Sophia's Cathedral, Bayswater Ulrika Eleonora Welsh Church of Central London West London Methodist Mission West Street Chapel Methodist Central Hall Westminster Chapel see also Fitzrovia Chapel

Authority control databases: Geographic MusicBrainz place

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