by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2021
By Wilfridselsey – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56272459
The Royal Chapel of All Saints is located on the grounds of Royal Lodge in the 5,000-acre Windsor Great Park in Windsor, England. Windsor Great Park was the private hunting ground of Windsor Castle for many centuries. The chapel is a Royal Peculiar, a Church of England parish or church that is under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch rather than a bishop. It serves as an informal parish church for the residents and staff of Windsor Great Park. Services at the chapel are often attended by members of the British Royal family, and Queen Elizabeth II regularly worshiped at the Royal Chapel of All Saints for reasons of privacy.
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The Earl and Countess of Wessex and their daughter Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor attended Sunday services at the Royal Chapel of All Saints two days after the death of The Duke of Edinburgh
The decision to build a new chapel came when the small chapels at Royal Lodge and Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park could no longer accommodate the royal occupants and their growing royal household staff. The Royal Chapel of All Saints was designed by Jeffry Wyatville, an English architect and garden designer, and then built on the site of a porter’s lodge. First used on Palm Sunday in 1825, the Royal Chapel of All Saints is located less than a hundred yards from Royal Lodge. In contrast to St. George’s Chapel at Windsor, the Royal Chapel of All Saints Chapel is simpler and more intimate, with a maximum capacity of 180 people.
King George IV resided at Royal Lodge during the refurbishment of Windsor Castle in the 1820s and regularly worshipped at the Royal Chapel of All Saints. In the 1860s, Queen Victoria had the chapel remodeled in the Gothic Revival style with the design by Samuel Sanders Teulon and Anthony Salvin. The renovations included a new chancel and an east window in memory of Queen Victoria’s mother, the Duchess of Kent. Queen Victoria often attended services at the chapel.
In 1905, a window was dedicated at the Royal Chapel of All Saints in memory of Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein, the son of Princess Helena, daughter of Queen Victoria, and Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein. While serving during the Boer War in 1900, Prince Christian Victor died of enteric fever in Pretoria, South African Republic, also known as the Transvaal Republic, now in South Africa. His parents lived at the nearby Cumberland Lodge
In 1931, King George V granted Royal Lodge to the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth) as a country house. The Duke and Duchess of York attended services at the nearby Royal Chapel of All Saints along with their young daughters, the future Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret. They continued to visit the chapel after they became King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II. After the death of King George VI in 1952, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother continued to use Royal Lodge as a country house until her death. She enjoyed spending time at the chapel which was just a short distance from her home.
Recent Royal Events
The Royal Chapel, Windsor Great Park by Sir Hugh Casson, 1990; Credit – Royal Collection Trust
Resting of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother’s Coffin
The Queen Mother’s coffin at rest in the Royal Chapel of All Saints; Credit – https://img.17qq.com/images/gmmodpgmcpv.jpeg
The coffin of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother rested at the Royal Chapel of All Saints from March 31, 2002 until April 1, 2002 when her coffin was taken to London. The Queen Mother died on March 30, 2002, at Royal Lodge, her home in Windsor Great Park. Walking behind The Queen Mother’s coffin as it was carried the short distance from Royal Lodge to the Royal Chapel of All Saints were three members of her staff dressed in black livery. One staff member carried a potted jasmine, an Easter gift from King Charles III, then the Prince of Wales, to his grandmother. Later in the day, Queen Elizabeth II and members of the royal family attended a prayer service at the Royal Chapel of All Saints. The Queen Mother’s coffin, draped in her royal standard and adorned with a wreath of pink camellias, rested before the altar.
Wedding of Princess Beatrice of York and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi
Photo Credit – https://www.instagram.com/theroyalfamily/ Photograph by Benjamin Wheeler
On Friday, July 17, 2020, Princess Beatrice of York married Mr. Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in a small private ceremony held at the Royal Chapel of All Saints Chapel. There were approximately twenty guests including the bride and groom’s parents and siblings, and the bride’s paternal grandparents, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The wedding took place following all relevant government COVID-19 guidelines. Originally scheduled to take place on May 29, 2020, at the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace in London, England, followed by a private reception in the gardens of Buckingham Palace, the wedding was postponed and the original plans modified because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Works Cited
- En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Royal Chapel of All Saints – Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Chapel_of_All_Saints> [Accessed 8 May 2021].
- Heychurches.co.uk. 2021. Royal Chapel of All Saints « HEYCHURCHES.CO.UK. [online] Available at: <https://heychurches.co.uk/02169082/Royal_Chapel_of_All_Saints> [Accessed 8 May 2021].
- Royal Lodge Chapel of All Saints, W., 2021. Royal Lodge Chapel of All Saints, Windsor Great Park, Windsor: perspective view with deer shown grazing in the foreground | RIBA. [online] RIBApix. Available at: <https://www.architecture.com/image-library/RIBApix/image-information/poster/royal-lodge-chapel-of-all-saints-windsor-great-park-windsor-perspective-view-with-deer-shown-grazing/posterid/RIBA32113.html> [Accessed 8 May 2021].
- The Guardian. 2002. Gun salutes honour Queen Mother. [online] Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/apr/01/queenmother.monarchy5> [Accessed 8 May 2021].
- Town & Country. 2020. Where Did Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi Get Married?. [online] Available at: <https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a33348976/princess-beatrice-edoardo-mapelli-mozzi-wedding-venue-royal-chapel-all-saints/> [Accessed 8 May 2021].