Banqueting House

Inigo Jones completed the Banqueting House in 1622 for James I, and it is the only complete survivor of the Palace of Whitehall, most of which burned in 1698. The Main Hall is the reason to come: a double-cube room of Ionic columns and clear northern light, crowned by the nine canvases Rubens painted for Charles I and installed in 1636. They are the only Rubens paintings still in the space they were made for. Thirteen years after they went up, Charles I walked beneath them to his execution on a scaffold outside.

Historic Royal Palaces reopened the building in 2026 after a two-year conservation project: a passenger lift into the North Annex now gives step-free access to the Main Hall, a new English oak floor was laid, and air-source heat pumps and a district-heating connection hold the temperature and humidity the ceiling needs. The room was built to stage masques, and it still works that way. Beneath it, the Undercroft was James I's drinking den, a low vaulted chamber of brick arches that Historic Royal Palaces markets for standing receptions, DJs and after-dinner dancing.

The house hires on an exclusive basis only, so both spaces come together and the building is yours for the evening. The usual shape is drinks in the Undercroft, dinner and speeches in the Main Hall, then back downstairs for the afterparty. Catering, production and florals come through an approved supplier list, and guest timings run to midnight with extensions to 01:00.