St Raphael
Kingston upon Thames, Greater London
This beautiful church was designed by the eminent architect Charles Parker in an Italianate style, with early Christian and Renaissance influences.
The royal family would never sit in the main body of the church. Kings and queens always used a private pew on first floor level which looks down upon the main body of the chapel. Today, a single central room, like a box at an opera, is reserved for the monarch.
It was here in the chapel, in 1540, that Archbishop Cranmer handed Henry VIII a letter outlining various accusations against the King’s new wife, Catherine Howard.
Catherine was accused of unchaste behaviour before her marriage. Henry VIII had been besotted with his young wife, which is why he turned against her all the more viciously. She was executed at the Tower of London soon afterwards.
Henry VIII's Crown, an accurate replica of the crown worn by Henry VIII, is on display in the Royal Pew of the Chapel Royal where Henry himself would have sat wearing it.