When Cardinal Wolsey became possessed of the northern archiepiscopal See, he found York House too small for his taste, and he set to work to rebuild the greater part of this palace on a larger and more magnificent scale. On the completion of the works he took up his abode here with a household of 800 persons, and lived with more than regal splendour, from time to time entertaining the King himself to gorgeous banquets, followed by masked balls. At one of these grand entertainments they say King Henry first met Anne Boleyn. A chronicler says the Cardinal was "sweet as summer to all that sought him."
When the great Cardinal fell into disgrace, and the Duke of Suffolk came to Whitehall to bid him resign the Great Seal of England, his Eminence left his palace by the privy stair and "took barge" to Putney, and thence to Esher; and Henry VIII. at once took possession of the vacant property, and began to erect new buildings, a vast courtyard, tennis court, and picture gallery, and two great gateways, all of which are now totally destroyed. It was in this palace that he died, January 28, 1547.
During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Whitehall was famous for its magnificent festivities, tournaments, and receptions of distinguished foreign princes. Especially was this the case in 1581, when the French commissioners came to urge the Queen's marriage with the Duke of Anjou. Here the Queen's corpse lay in state before the interment in March, 1603. James I. likewise entertained right royally at Whitehall, and here the Princess Elizabeth was married to the Elector Palatine on February 14, 1613. King James also employed that distinguished architect Inigo Jones to build the beautiful Banqueting House, which is all that now remains of Whitehall Palace, and is one of the finest architectural fragments in London. The proportions are most elegant, and the style perfect. Used as a chapel till 1890, it is now the United Service Museum, while the great painter Rubens decorated the ceiling for Charles I. in 1635.
The whole plan of Inigo Jones remained unfinished, but Charles I. lived in regal splendour in the palace, entertaining on the most liberal scale, and forming the famous collection of pictures dispersed by the Parliament. Here it was that the masque of Comus was acted before the King, and other masques from time to time. After Charles's martyrdom, Oliver Cromwell came to live at Whitehall, and died there September 3, 1658. On his restoration, in May, 1660, King Charles II. returned to Whitehall, and kept his court there in great splendour. Balls rather than masques were now the fashion, and Pepys and Evelyn have preserved full descriptions of these elegant and luxurious festivities, and all the gaiety, frivolity, and dissoluteness connected with them, and the manner of life at Charles's court. The King died in the palace on February 6, 1685, and was succeeded by his austere brother James, who, during his brief reign, set up a Roman Catholic chapel within the precincts of the royal habitation, from which he fled to France in 1688.
The Palace of Whitehall.
King William III. preferred other places of residence, and two fires—one in 1691, the other in 1698—destroyed the greater part of Whitehall, which was never rebuilt.
Buckingham Palace is now the principal residence in London of His Majesty King Edward VII. Though a fine pile of building it is hardly worthy of its position as the town residence of the mighty Sovereign of the greatest Empire of the world, situated in the largest city on the face of the globe.
King George III. purchased Buckingham Palace in 1761 from Sir Charles Sheffield for £21,000, and in 1775 it was settled upon Queen Charlotte. In the reign of George IV. it was rebuilt from designs by Nash; and in 1846, during the reign of Queen Victoria, the imposing eastern façade was erected from designs by Blore. The length is 360 feet, and the general effect is striking, though the architectural details are of little merit. In fact, it is a discredit to the nation that there is no London palace for the Sovereign which is worthy of comparison with the Royal Palace at Madrid, or the Papal Palace in Rome, though the reason for this peculiar fact is fully set forth in the historical sketch of the royal palaces already given. King Edward VII. was born here in 1841, and here drawing-rooms and levées are usually held. The white marble staircase is fine, and there are glorious portraits of Charles I. and Queen Henrietta Maria by Van Dyck, as well as Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort by Winterhalter. There is also a full-length portrait of George IV. by Lawrence in the State dining-room.
In the private apartments there are many interesting royal portraits, as well as a collection of presents from foreign princes. There is a lake of five acres in the gardens, and the whole estate comprises about fifty acres. There is a curious pavilion adorned with cleverly-painted scenes from Comus by famous English artists. The view from the east over St. James's Park towards the India Office is picturesque, and remarkably countrified for the heart of a great city. The lake in this park is certainly very pretty, and well stocked with various water-fowl. The Horse Guards, Admiralty, and other public offices at the eastern extremity of this park occupy the old site of the western side of the Palace of Whitehall.