St James's Palace

St James's Palace, a large elegant brick structure, fronting towards Pall Mall. Originally a hospital dedicated to St James, it was reconstructed and made a manor by Henry VIII., who also annexed to it a park, which he enclosed with a brick wall, to connect St James's with Whitehall. The gateway and clock-tower are from designs by Holbein. Here Queen Mary died (1558); Charles I. slept here the night before his execution; and here Charles II., the Old Pretender, and George IV. were born. When Whitehall was burned in 1697, St James's became the regular London residence of the British sovereigns, and it continued to be so till Queen Victoria's time. Additions and improvements, gradually made, totally changed the original palace, so that at the present time little, if any, of the old structure remains. In 1837 the royal household was transferred to Buckingham Palace, whither the drawing-rooms were also removed at the death of the Prince Consort, and St James's is now used only for levees.—The Court of St James's is a frequent designation of the British Court.—St James's Park lies southward from the Palace, and extends over 58 acres.