Page 97 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - London

PIC C ADILL Y , M A Y F AIR AND ST JA MES ’ S  95

retired by the time this hotel
was built and named after him
in 1906.
The colonnaded frontal
of the imposing château-style
building was meant to suggest
Paris, where the very grandest
and most fashionable hotels
were to be found around
the turn of the century. It
maintains its Edwardian air
of opulence and is a popular
stop, welcoming those who
are suitably dressed (no jeans
or sportswear, including
trainers; jacket and tie for men) The elegant façade of Spencer House
for afternoon tea, with daily
sittings in the Palm Court at the week. It is also used for landmarks. The palace remains
11:30am, 1:30pm, 3:30pm, receptions and meetings. a royal residence for, among
5:30pm and 7:30pm. others, The Princess Royal and
Princess Alexandra, and its
7 St James’s Palace State Apartments are some-
6 Spencer House times used for enter tain ing
Pall Mall SW1. Map 12 F4. 1 Green
27 St James’s Pl SW1. Map 12 F4. Park. Closed to the public. ∑ royal.uk during official State visits.
Tel 020 7514 1958 (Mon–Fri). 1 Green
Park. Open Sep–Jul: 10:am–5:30pm Built by Henry VIII in the late 8 St James’s Square
Sun (last adm: 4:30pm). No children 1530s on the site of a former
under 10. & ^ 7 8 compulsory. leper hospital, the palace was a SW1. Map 13 A3. 1 Green Park,
∑ spencerhouse.co.uk primary royal residence only Piccadilly Circus.
briefly, mainly during the reign
This Palladian palace, built in of Eliza beth I and in the London’s squares, quadrangles
1766 for the first Earl Spencer, late 17th and early of elegant homes
an ancestor of the late Princess 18th centuries. surrounding gated
of Wales, has been completely In 1952, Queen gardens, are among
restored to its 18th-century Elizabeth II made the city’s most
splendour (thanks to an £18 her first speech as attractive features.
million renovation project). queen here, and St James’s, one of
It contains some wonderful for eign ambass- London’s earliest,
paintings and contemporary adors are still was laid out in the
furniture; one of the high-lights officially accredited 1670s and lined by
is the beautifully decorated to the Court of exclusive houses
Painted Room. The house is St James’s. Its St James’s for those whose
open to the public on Sundays northern gate house, seen Tudor gatehouse business made it vital
– for guided tours only – and from St James’s Street, is for them to live near
group bookings the rest of one of London’s great Tudor St James’s Palace. Many build-
ings date from the 18th and
19th centuries and have had
numerous illustrious resi dents.
During World War II, Generals
Eisenhower and de Gaulle both
had headquarters here.
Today, No. 10 on the north
side, Chatham House (1736),
is home to the Royal Institute
for International Affairs. In the
northwest corner of the square
is the London Library (1896),
a private lending library
founded in 1841 by historian
Thomas Carlyle (see p200) and
others. The lovely gardens in
the middle contain an equest-
rian statue of William III, here
Afternoon tea served in the opulent Palm Court of the Ritz since 1808.

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