The Old Royal Palace of Whitehall (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: 35 CHAPTER III THE BANQUETING HOUSE The Banqueting House or Hall is the only important portion of the famous Palace of Whitehall that now exists. There is no building in London ' more sentimentally and historically connected with the life of the nation, ' and it is strange to reflect upon the various uses to which it has been put in the course of its existence. Installations, masques, and other ceremonies, have from time to time taken place within its walls; in the reign of Charles II. it was the scene of a sale of the famous collection of pictures of the Duke of Mantua; upon the accession of George I. it was converted into a Chapel Royal, and was used as such for the performance of Divine Service till the autumn of the year 1890, when it was lent by her late Majesty ! to the Royal United Service Institution. There are many references in this work to a Banqueting House that Queen Elizabeth added to the Palace, and the reader must not confuse that building with the one we are about to discuss at length in this chapter. Elizabeth's BanquetingHouse, which was situated in the south-west side of the Palace, was erected in the spring of 1581, in order to give honour and solemnity to the reception of the embassy despatched by Queen Catherine de Medicis to propose a marriage between her son, the Duke of Anjou, and the Queen of England.1 This Banqueting House or Hall, in which there were 292 panes of glass, was built in the shape of a long square, the walls being covered with canvas and painted outside with what Holins- hed calls ' rustic work.' 1 Queen Victoria. The sides within of the same house were made with ten heights of degrees for people to stand upon, and in the top of this house was wrought cunningly upon canvas works of ivy and holly, with pendants made of wick...