Banqueting House

This is the only surviving part of the Tudor Whitehall Palace, which once stretched most of the way down Whitehall, but was burned down in 1698. It was designed as England's first purely Renaissance building by Inigo Jones after he returned from Italy, and looked like no other structure in the country at the time. The English hated it for more than a century. A bust outside commemorates 30 January 1649, when Charles I, accused of treason by Cromwell after the Civil War, was executed on a scaffold built against a 1st-floor window here. When the royals were reinstated with Charles II, it inevitably became something of a royalist shrine, although its ceremonial functions faded in time and it was used as the Chapel Royal from the 18th century. It is still occasionally used for state banquets and concerts, but fortunately you don't have to be on the royal A-list to visit. In a huge, virtually unfurnished hall on the first floor there are nine ceiling panels painted by Rubens. They were commissioned by Charles I and depict the 'divine right' of kings.

Designed by Inigo James for James I in 1622, The Banqueting House was specifically built as a setting for royal entertainment. It is the last surviving fragment of Whitehall Palace which was destroyed by fire 1698. The scene of many important historic events, it was here that Charles I stepped out of a first floor window on to a scaffold to meet his fate in 1649. Today, the Banqueting House is still used as it was originally intended - special occasions such as blue-chip lunches, banquets, charity events and glittering society functions. This exceptionally grand building is divided into two venues. Sweep down the stone staircase into the Main Hall and invite your guests to follow in the footsteps of royalty as you gaze up at the magnificent Rubens ceiling. Beneath lie the beautiful white vaults -a favourite haunt of James 1. A versatile space, the Undercroft can be transformed into an enchanting reception area for pre-dinner cocktails, before being escorted up into the Main Hall, or as an intimate venue in its own right.