St James's Palace
Henry VIII's red-brick gatehouse still guards Pall Mall — and it's where Britain's new monarchs are proclaimed.
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Built 1531–1536, it remains the ceremonial heart of the monarchy: every foreign ambassador is still accredited to the "Court of St James's," and new sovereigns are proclaimed from its Proclamation Gallery, which overlooks Friary Court.
What to look for
- The four-storey Tudor gatehouse — two crenellated octagonal flanking towers, topped by a clock added in 1731
- The initials "H.A." — Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn — worked into the fabric
- Friary Court's Proclamation Gallery, where the Garter King of Arms proclaimed Charles III on 10 September 2022
The palace's Chapel Royal isn't open to the public, but the Queen's Chapel across Marlborough Road (still part of the palace) opens at selected times; view the gatehouse from Pall Mall.
St James's Palace is one of 40 sights worth the detour in London, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the London pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in London
- British MuseumThe room where a dead language got its voice back — and you walk in for free.
- Buckingham PalaceThe balcony where a whole country turns up to watch a family wave — with 775 rooms behind it.
- Westminster AbbeyNearly every English monarch since 1066 has been crowned on the same worn patch of floor.
- Big BenThe clang in a thousand establishing shots comes from a cracked bell that's rung slightly off-key since 1859.
- Tower of LondonWilliam the Conqueror's keep turned royal prison, where two queens lost their heads and the Crown Jewels still sit under guard.
- Tower BridgeA Victorian drawbridge dressed as a Gothic castle, its roadway still splitting open for passing ships.