Queen's Chapel

The Queen’s Chapel stands beside St James’s Palace in the City of Westminster. Designed by Inigo Jones, the brick building was finished in 1625 as a Catholic chapel for the Spanish Infanta who never arrived. After the Infanta’s betrothal ended, Queen Henrietta Maria used it for her French household. Later it served continental Protestants and then German courtiers under George I. The chapel became part of the Chapel Royal again in 1938 at Queen Mary’s request. The chapel’s Palladian façade hides a gilded and painted interior vault. Christopher Wren refurbished it in the 1680s, and the Kollmann family served as organists for more than a century. Queen Mary attended Sunday services in the royal pew until her death. In 2002 the Queen Mother lay in state here before her funeral in Westminster Hall. Visitors enter a quiet space of gilded plasterwork and simple pews. The west gallery still holds the royal closet where Queen Mary sat for Mattins. Outside, Marlborough Road separates the chapel from the palace, making it feel part of Marlborough House. The plain brick exterior gives no hint of the rich decoration within.