Chapel Royal

Chapel Royal is a designation given to certain chapels and churches with links to the monarchy in England and Canada. According to the Royal Family's website, 'in origin and still in principle, the Chapel Royal is not a building but an establishment: a body of priests and singers to serve the spiritual needs of the Sovereign'. In the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, the Chapels Royal is the name of the department responsible for the chapel establishment, staffed by Anglican clergy, church musicians and the officers of the Vestry (who function as vergers). The Chapels Royal and the College of Chaplains together form the monarch's Ecclesiastical Household.

Historically, the chapel royal was an establishment of chaplains, clerks, children and servants that travelled with the monarch as part of his royal court. The chapel royal ministered to the Household and sang services each day, wherever the monarch was residing. As the court became more settled, the term 'chapel royal' came to be attached to places of worship in the principal royal palaces: those within the Tower of London, the Palace of Westminster and Eltham Palace were the earliest examples. The chapels royal played a significant role in the musical life of the nation: composers such as Tallis, Byrd, Bull, Gibbons, and Purcell all served as Gentlemen of the Chapel.

At the present time, the Chapels Royal in England are: the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace and the Queen's Chapel, St James's Palace; the Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace; the Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula and the Chapel Royal of St John the Evangelist (both in the Tower of London); and The King's Chapel of the Savoy. Each chapel (or pair of chapels) is staffed by a chaplain and has a choir singing regular services through the year. Historically, there were Chapels Royal in Scotland and Ireland as well (see below).

In Canada, the three chapels royal are affiliated with some of the country's First Nations; the earliest of the three is the Mohawk Chapel, the oldest surviving church in Ontario (which was designated as a royal chapel by King Edward VII in 1904). Outside Canada and the United Kingdom, there is also royal chapel on Bermuda: St. Peter's Church - Their Majesties Chappell, located in St. George's Parish (its royal title was originally bestowed under William and Mary in 1697 and confirmed by Elizabeth II in 2012); this reputedly is the oldest continually-used Anglican church in the Western Hemisphere.

Chapel Royal equivalents, often similarly named, are (or were) to be found in other monarchies, particularly in countries where there is or was an established, national or state church.