Whitehall Palace in central London, at one time Europe's largest royal residence, has been at the centre of some of the most momentous events in England's history, from the execution of Charles I and the establishment of the Commonwealth to the Glorious Revolution and the succession to the throne of William III and Mary II. All that remains of the palace today, however, is Inigo Jones's magnificent Banqueting House, the majority of the complex having succumbed to a devastating fire in 1698. Beginning in the Middle Ages with Whitehall's origins as the home of the Archbishop of York and covering every stage of its gradual transformation into a palace fit for the royal household, Whitehall Palace is the story of a remarkable building.
