Savoy Chapel

The Savoy Chapel stands on the site of the old Savoy Palace in the City of Westminster. It faces the Strand and the Savoy Hotel, with the Institution of Engineering and Technology nearby. The chapel is a Grade II* listed building and has been a Royal Peculiar for centuries. It belongs to the Duchy of Lancaster and is under the direct jurisdiction of the reigning monarch. The chapel was founded by Henry VII in 1502 and was part of a hospital for one hundred poor men. The chapel has a long history of serving different congregations. It once hosted the German Lutheran congregation of Westminster and was the burial place of Archibald Cameron of Lochiel in 1753. In the 18th and 19th centuries, it became known for marriages outside ordinary ecclesiastical law. Notable weddings included those of Consuelo, Duchess of Marlborough, and Edith Stuyvesant Vanderbilt. The chapel also hosted a suffragette wedding in 1912, attended by leading figures of the movement. Inside, the chapel contains a triptych stained glass memorial window dedicated to the D’Oyly Carte family. It has a three-manual pipe organ presented by Queen Elizabeth II in 1965. The chapel choir consists of boy choristers from St Olave’s Grammar School and professional gentlemen. The choir sings weekly services and performs at royal events. The chapel’s garden was landscaped for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 2002.