by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021

The Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace, which this writer has visited, is a royal peculiar which means it is under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch. It is also a chapel royal, an establishment in the royal household serving the spiritual needs of the sovereign. It is located in Hampton Court Palace on the River Thames in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, upstream of central London. Hampton Court Palace was built from 1515 to 1517 by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Archbishop of York and Lord High Chancellor of England. When Cardinal Wolsey fell out of favor in 1529, he unsuccessfully attempted to reinstate himself in King Henry VIII’s good graces by giving Hampton Court Palace and its contents to the king. Cardinal Wolsey died in 1531 while traveling from northern England to London to face charges of high treason.

Hampton Court Palace became one of King Henry VIII’s most favored residences and he enlarged it so it could accommodate his many courtiers. During the joint reign of King William III and Queen Mary II, Hampton Court Palace saw massive rebuilding and expansion work, intending it to rival the French Palace of Versailles. King George II was the last monarch to reside in the palace. After the death of King George II in 1760, Hampton Court Palace was used to house grace and favor residents but there have been no new grace and favor residents since the 1960s and the last one died in 2017. Queen Victoria opened Hampton Court Palace to the public in 1838 and it has continued to be a major tourist site. Hampton Court Palace is the headquarters of Historic Royal Palaces, a self-funding charitable foundation, that is responsible for the care and the running, on behalf of The Crown, of Hampton Court Palace, along with the Tower of London, Kensington Palace (State Apartments and Orangery), the Banqueting House at Whitehall, Kew Palace with Queen Charlotte’s Cottage, and Hillsborough Castle.

Construction of the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace began with Cardinal Wolsey and continued with King Henry VIII. The chapel was the place of worship for the Tudor, Stuart, the first two Hanover monarchs, and their many courtiers while in residence at Hampton Court Palace. The royal family sat in the royal pew, also called the Holy Day Closet, opposite the altar and a floor above the other people in the congregation.

Above the altar was a huge stained glass window designed for Cardinal Wolsey by German woodcut designer and painter Erhard Schön. Originally depicted on the huge stained glass window were St. Heinrich II, Holy Roman Emperor (Henry VIII’s patron saint), St. Catherine of Alexandria (patron saint of Catherine of Aragon, first wife of Henry VIII), St. Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury (Cardinal Thomas Wolsey’s patron saint) and the figures of Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon and Cardinal Wolsey, at prayer beside their patron saints. It is thought that Henry VIII made some changes to the stained glass window after the fall of Cardinal Wolsey and Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne Boleyn. It is probable that St. Anne (mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary) replaced St. Catherine of Alexandria and that Anne Boleyn replaced Catherine of Aragon. In addition, St. Thomas Becket and Cardinal Thomas Wolsey were probably removed from the stained glass window.

The beautiful blue and gold timber and plaster ceiling was begun by Henry VIII in 1535. Tudor dynastic images are represented in the ceiling. Along the top of the walls are Henry VIII’s arms, the rose combining the red and white of the Houses of York and Lancaster, and the heraldic badge of the portcullis, inherited from Henry VIII’s paternal grandmother Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby. The pendants down the center of the ceiling again reflect the red and white roses, and the main pendants are in the green and white livery colors of the House of Tudor. The motto of the Order of the Garter, “Honi soit qui mal y pense” (Shame on him who thinks evil of it) is on the crossbeams.

During the Commonwealth of England (1649 – 1660), after the English Civil War and the trial and execution of King Charles I, there was much destruction in the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace. The stained glass window was destroyed and bricked up. Decorations with religious or royal symbols were destroyed. Henry VIII’s beautiful blue and gold ceiling still remains only because it was too high for the soldiers to strip off the carvings.

The oak reredos, an ornamental screen covering the wall at the back of an altar, was originally carved for the Palace of Whitehall in London by master carver Grinling Gibbons. In 1696, a decision was made to bring it to Hampton Court. Gibbons was in charge of dismantling it, supervising its transportation on the River Thames, and re-erecting it in the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace. This turned out to be a rather lucky decision because, in 1698, the Palace of Whitehall was almost completely destroyed by a fire.

In 1710, Queen Anne commissioned architect Sir Christopher Wren to remodel the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace. The present royal pew, pews, oak paneling, marble floor, and wall paintings all date from Wren’s remodeling. The pews, the paneling, and the pillars supporting the royal pew are made of Norwegian oak, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, and carved by Grinling Gibbons. The reredos above the altar replacing the destroyed Tudor stained glass windows was designed by Wren and carved by Gibbons. Wren also added an organ and a staircase leading down from the royal pew.

Henry VIII worshipped in the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace with all six of his wives. On October 13, 1537, Henry VIII’s longed-for son, the future but short-lived King Edward VI, was born to Henry VIII’s third wife Jane Seymour at Hampton Court Palace. The infant prince was christened two days later in the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace by Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury who was his godparent along with his eldest half-sister Princess Mary, the future Queen Mary I. Jane Seymour died from childbirth complications on October 24, 1537. She lay in state in the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace for three weeks and her viscera were buried beneath the altar there. Her body was buried at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle and Henry VIII was buried with her when he died in 1547.

On All Saints’ Day, November 1, 1541, when Henry VIII went to pray in the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace, he found a letter on his pew from Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury describing the accusations of adulterous behavior made about his fifth wife Catherine Howard. Leading to the entrance of the royal pew at the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace is a passage called the Haunted Gallery because legend has it that the ghost of Catherine Howard has been seen and heard there. After Catherine Howard had been accused of adultery by her husband, she was kept prisoner in her apartments at Hampton Court Palace. However, one day, Catherine evaded her guards and ran towards the chapel, where Henry VIII was at prayer in the royal pew, to make a last plea for mercy. Her way was barred by more guards, who dragged her, shrieking, back through the gallery. Three months later, Catherine Howard was beheaded at the Tower of London. In 1543, Henry VIII married his sixth and final wife Catherine Parr in the Holy Day Closet, also called the royal pew.

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Father Anthony Howe, Chaplain of the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court, shows Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, around the Chapel Royal prior to the vesper service

Following Henry VIII’s break with the Roman Catholic Church, Catholic services in the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace were briefly restored during the reign of his Catholic daughter Queen Mary I (reigned 1553 – 1558). On February 9, 2016, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, celebrated Vespers at the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace, the first Catholic service in the chapel for more than 450 years. In a symbolic gesture of reconciliation, Richard Chartres, the Church of England Bishop of London and Dean of the Chapel Royal, also participated in the service. About 300 people attended the service, which was largely conducted in Latin and featured beautiful choral music from the 15th and 16th centuries and concluded with the national anthem.

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Queen Elizabeth II meeting the choirboys of the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace during the 400th anniversary of the Hampton Court Conference

Since Hampton Court Palace ceased to be a royal residence during the reign of King George II, the Chapel Royal there rarely has had royal visits. In May 2004, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh celebrated the 400th anniversary of the Hampton Court Conference, meetings with King James I and representatives of the Church of England and leading English Puritans, at a service in the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace. The 2004 service was probably the first time the British monarch attended a service in the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace since George II withdrew the court from Hampton Court Palace after the death of his wife Queen Caroline in 1737.

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Lord Frederick Windsor and Sophie Winkleman after their wedding in the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace

The first royal wedding for centuries was held at the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace on September 12, 2009, when Lord Frederick Windsor, son of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent and a great-grandson of King George V, married actress Sophie Winkleman. Royal guests included Princess Eugenie, Princess Alexandra, and the Duke and Duchess of Kent.

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Queen Elizabeth II during the recording of her Christmas Day Speech in the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace

In December 2010, to mark the upcoming 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, Queen Elizabeth II gave her annual Christmas message from the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace.

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Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh leave the service in celebration of the centenary of the Order of the Companions of Honour at the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace

On June 13, 2017, the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court became the Chapel of the Order of the Companions of Honour. That new honor for the chapel and the centenary of the founding of the Order of the Companions of Honour were celebrated with a Choral Evensong attended by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and many members of the Order of the Companions of Honour.

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Works Cited

• British Heritage. 2021. The Tudors at the Palace of Hampton Court. [online] Available at: <https://britishheritage.com/travel/tudors-hampton-court> [Accessed 10 March 2021].
• Chapelroyalhamptoncourt.org.uk. 2021. The Chapel Royal – Hampton Court Palace. [online] Available at: <https://www.chapelroyalhamptoncourt.org.uk/> [Accessed 10 March 2021].
• Guardian. 2016. Hampton Court’s Chapel Royal Stages First Catholic Service for 450 Years. [online] Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/09/hampton-courts-chapel-royal-stages-first-catholic-service-for-450-years some history> [Accessed 10 March 2021].
• Historic Royal Palaces. 2021. Chapel Royal – Hampton Court Palace. [online] Available at: <https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/whats-on/the-chapel-royal/#gs.uyupzb> [Accessed 10 March 2021].
• Worsley, Lucy and Souden, David. 2015. The Story of Hampton Court Palace. London: Merrell Publishers Limited