What is Chapel Royal?
The '''Chapel Royal''' is a department of the [[monarch]]'s household in the [[United Kingdom]]. Incorrectly, the term is also used for the [[choir]]s of these chapels. The correct name for these choirs is the ''Gentlemen of the Chapel''. They are a group of [[priest]]s and [[choir|singers]] who sing [[church service]]s for the [[Britain|British]] [[monarch]] ([[king]] or [[queen]]). They are helped by young boy singers called choristers or ''Children of the Chapel.'' It is an old tradition. Today there are two [[Consecration|consecrated]] buildings at [[St James’s Palace]], near [[Buckingham Palace]] in [[London]] served by the Chapel Royal. These chapels do not belong to the [[diocese]] (group of churches in a district). That is why they are called “royal peculiars” (“peculiar” in this sense does not mean “strange” but “special”). Services are held every Sunday except during August and September. Members of the public are welcome to go to these services. This is the only time that the public can go into the royal chapels. The choir also sing at special services, including one held every year on 6 January to celebrate [[Epiphany (holiday)|Epiphany]] when offerings of [[gold]], [[frankincense]] and [[myrrh]] are made on behalf of the queen. == History == The Chapel Royal dates back to the late [[13th century]]. At that time the priests and choir travelled with the king wherever he went. In the [[17th century]] the chapel had its own building in [[Whitehall]], which burned down in [[1698]]. Since [[1702]] it has been based in [[St. James's Palace]]. In the [[16th century|16th]] and [[17th century|17th centuries]] the choir was the best choir in [[England]]. [[William Byrd]] and [[Thomas Tallis]] were both [[pipe organ|organists]] there during the reign of [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]]. Boy choristers from choirs outside [[London]] were sometimes made to join the Children of the Chapel if they had beautiful voices. These boys also took part in plays at the king or queen’s court. [[Charles I