De Keyser's Royal Hotel was a large hotel on the
Victoria Embankment
Victoria Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment (the other section is the Chelsea Embankment), a road and river-walk along the north bank of the River Thames in London, England. Built in the 1860s, it runs from the Palace of Westminster to ...
, at its junction with
New Bridge Street (now the
A201),
Blackfriars, London
Blackfriars is in central London, specifically the south-west corner of the City of London.
Blackfriars Priory
The name first occurs in records of 1317 in many orthographies. Friar evolved from as has, meaning 'brother'. Black refers to the ...
. The location was formerly the site of
Bridewell Palace.
The Royal Hotel was founded before 1845 by Constant de Keyser, an immigrant to England from
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
. It was a high-end hotel, catering mainly to visitors from continental Europe. His son
Polydore de Keyser ran the hotel from around 1856.
A new hotel building with five storeys and two basements was opened at the same site on 5 September 1874, designed by the English architect
Edward Augustus Gruning. The foundation stone was laid by the daughter of the Belgian Vice-Counsul. The new building had a long curved façade facing the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...
, close to
Sion College and near the site of the new
City of London School
The City of London School, also known as CLS and City, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for Single-sex education, boys in the City of London, England, on the banks of the River Thames next to the Millennium Bridge, ...
building that opened in 1883. The exterior was in an Anglicised form of the
Second Empire Style
Second Empire style, also known as the Napoleon III style, is a highly Eclecticism in architecture, eclectic style of architecture and decorative arts originating in the Second French Empire. It was characterized by elements of many differe ...
, faced by white Suffolk bricks and
Portland stone
Portland stone is a limestone geological formation (formally named the Portland Stone Formation) dating to the Tithonian age of the Late Jurassic that is quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. The quarries are cut in beds of whi ...
, with a
Mansard roof
A mansard or mansard roof (also called French roof or curb roof) is a multi-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper, and often punctured by dormer wi ...
covered with green slates and hips, ridges and dormers in zinc. An archway led to an internal courtyard, at the centre of which was a glass dome covering a billiard room below, later used as a lounge. The interior was decorated in opulent French style, with 230 guest rooms and many function rooms, including a dining hall with space for 400 people. Furniture was imported from Paris.
A second wing opened in 1882, when the hotel became the largest in London, accommodating up to 480 guests, with a second dining room for another 250 people, and rooms for 150 staff.
Sir Polydore de Keyser had no children. His hotel was sold to a limited company in 1897, and a nephew Polydor Welchand de Keyser took over the management.
Following the outbreak of the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, the hotel suffered serious decline. Anti-German sentiment had increased across Britain and the internment of German nationals and German-British citizens during the conflict had led to the arrest and confinement of many of the hotel's German staff, including its manager. It was eventually taken over by a
receiver. With a shortage of office space in London for the wartime ministries, the hotel was requisitioned in May 1916 by the
Office of Works
The Office of Works was an organisation responsible for structures and exterior spaces, first established as part of the English royal household in 1378 to oversee the building and maintenance of the royal castles and residences.
In 1832 it be ...
for the wartime use of the
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...
. Renamed "Adastral House", the first building to bear that name, it was the London headquarters of the Royal Flying Corps until it moved to
Hotel Cecil on the formation of the new
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...
and the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
in 1918. For a short period it was occupied by the
Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace.
On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...
, until 1919.
The owner of the hotel claimed compensation, leading to a legal case on the power of the
royal prerogative
The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, Privilege (law), privilege, and immunity recognised in common law (and sometimes in Civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy) as belonging to the monarch, so ...
, ''
Attorney-General v De Keyser's Royal Hotel Limited''. The case reached the
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
, which held that the
Defence of the Realm Act 1914 replaced the royal prerogative, and that compensation was due under the
Defence Act 1842.

The hotel never reopened. The building was sold to
Lever Brothers
Lever Brothers was a British manufacturing company founded in 1885 by two brothers: William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), and James Darcy Lever (1854–1916). They invested in and su ...
in 1921, and it became their London headquarters. The hotel building was demolished in 1931 to make way for the construction of
Unilever House
Unilever House is a listed building, Grade II listed office building in the Neoclassical architecture, Neoclassical Art Deco style, located on New Bridge Street, Victoria Embankment in Blackfriars, London, Blackfriars, London. The building has ...
.
References
* Anita McConnell, ‘Keyser, Sir Polydor de (1832–1898)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 8 Dec 2016Private Property, Government Requisition and the Constitution, 1914-1927 G. R. Rubin, p. 71-91
Unilever House, De Keyser’s Royal Hotel and the Drinking Fountain Association A London Inheritance, 28 September 2014
The British Architect, 9 October 1874 p. 235-236
HC Deb 12 August 1919 vol 119 c1114W
{{coord, 51, 30, 42.46, N, 0, 6, 20.73, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title
Defunct hotels in London
Demolished hotels in the United Kingdom
Buildings and structures demolished in 1931
Demolished buildings and structures in London