Peeps at Royal Palaces of Great Britain

ing up towards the busy throng of Piccadilly, still gives the diplomatic titl

cking in the eighteenth century, when Sir John Fielding wrote "it reflects no honour on the kingdom, and is the jest of foreigners." Certainly less

tely surrounded by fields. In course of time eight brothers had been added to the hospital, which was known as St. James the Less, and the whole property had been granted by Henry VI. to his new foundation, Eton College. When Henry VIII. took possessi

essentially Tudor, and remains so in spite of the various additions made by the later monarchs. The gatehouse, with its four octagon towers and its clock, is the most familiar feature of the palace. Unfortunately, [pg 50] from a sentimental point of view, the clock is a new one; an older one, bearing the date 1731, was removed in 1831, and is now at Hampton Court Palace. Perhaps the most interesting part of the interior is the Old Pre

er of St. Ja

throne, or some of the younger members of the royal family. Unhappy Queen Mary, soured by her early misfortunes, neglected by her husband, and despairing of the restoration of her Church, died after a weary illness on November 17, 1558, in the palace w

ster. However much we may denounce the method by which Charles attempted to govern his kingdom, we can accord him nothing but a respectful and sympathetic admiration for the manner in which he passed to his death. He was still a young and vigorous man, to whom life must have held much that was good, and yet he left it with no whinings at fate, but with a calm dignity and full of trust in God. The day before his execution his two young children, Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Gloucester, came to say farewell. Holding the little Pr

to take a little food, as the day was so bitterly cold. A few hours later the dread sentence had been fulfilled; but St. James's Palace was to witness one more scene, for the body was brought back on February 1, remaining there for many people to

gardener, changing it from mere rural simplicity into long straight avenues, and confining the water of various ponds into one formal canal. Bird-cage Walk owes its name to the aviary which was created at this time in part of the park. Much of the popularity which the Merry Monarch enjoyed was the way in which he wandered about among the public, unat

on, the unfortunate Old Pretender, was born in St. James's in a room whose proximity to some back stairs allowed ground for the absurd belief that the child was

Anne to reside in the palace, he himself retiring to Kensington, which he built for his own use. The succeeding monarchs all delighte

monarch has resided there, though the proclamation of the succession to the throne