The Ecclesiastical Household is part of the Royal Household of the sovereign of the United Kingdom. The term 'Ecclesiastical Household' (in official use) dates only from the 1920s, but its component structures and personnel have been part of the Royal Household for centuries.
Reflecting the constitutional position of the Church of Scotland within Scotland, the Royal Household in Scotland makes its own ecclesiastical arrangements (see below for details).
Present day The Ecclesiastical Household (outside Scotland) is made up of two main elements: the College of Chaplains and the Chapels Royal; the former is overseen by the Clerk of the Closet, the latter by the Dean of the Chapels Royal. Separate from the Ecclesiastical Household, but closely associated with it, is the Royal Almonry, overseen by the Lord High Almoner. The Clerk of the Closet, Dean of the Chapels Royal and Lord High Almoner are all prelates and have equal rank and precedence within the Household.
The sole full-time clerical member of the Royal Household is Canon Paul Wright, who currently serves as Deputy Clerk of the Closet, Sub-Dean of the Chapels Royal and Sub-Almoner, as well as being Domestic Chaplain (Buckingham Palace). These roles have been held by an individual cleric since 1931.
College of Chaplains
An establishment of thirty-six Chaplains is maintained. At one time the chaplains were expected to be in attendance (on rotation) at the royal court, but today the role is for the most part an honorary one (although each Chaplain is invited to preach once a year at the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace).
The College of Chaplains is overseen by the Clerk of the Closet, a position normally held by a serving diocesan bishop (who may however remain in office for a time after leaving his or her See). The current clerk is Richard Jackson, Bishop of Hereford. The Clerk of the Closet is responsible for advising the Private Secretary to the Sovereign on the names for candidates to fill vacancies in the Roll of Chaplains to the Sovereign. He or she also presents newly elected diocesan bishops for homage to the sovereign, and examines any theological books to be presented to the sovereign. He receives a salary of £7 a year.
Chapels Royal
The Chapels Royal in England are: the Queen's Chapel and the Chapel Royal (both at St James's Palace); the Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace; the Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula and St John's Chapel (both at the Tower of London); and The King's Chapel of the Savoy. Since the 18th century, the Bishop of London has usually served as Dean of the Chapels Royal.
The two chapels at St James's Palace are administered directly by the Sub-Dean of the Chapels Royal; the others have their own chaplains. In addition, Domestic Chaplains are appointed for the principal royal residences (Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and Sandringham).
The Gentlemen and Children of the Chapel Royal sing choral services at St James's Palace on Sundays and holy days. The Sub-Dean of the Chapels Royal is assisted in his or her duties there by two Priests-in-Ordinary, who hold the appointment alongside another ministry: they attend on monthly rotation and assist the Sub-Dean in presiding at statutory services and in the pastoral care of members of the Royal Household.
History
Medieval Ecclesiastics have been part of Royal Households in Britain since Saxon times. By the time of the Norman Conquest, clerics (or 'clerks'), as literate members of the Household, formed a sophisticated writing office for the king (as well as fulfilling sacred and sacramental duties). A snapshot of the Household in the time of Henry I is provided by the Constitutio domus regis (of ), in which the Chancellor is listed as the senior member of the Household: the Chancellor (whose office developed into that of Lord Chancellor) was at that time a senior cleric, who served as head both of the writing office and of the chapel.
By the time of Edward II, the three senior clerical members of the Household were listed (in Household Ordinances published in 1318) as the Confessor, Almoner and Chief Chaplain; the latter had under him five chaplains and six clerks. The Confessor was always a bishop. The office of 'dean of the king's chapel', in existence by 1349, took over the running of the chapel from the Chancellor (who was by that time no longer part of the Household). He also served as chief chaplain. On major feast days, the dean would celebrate high mass in the presence of the monarch (unless there happened to be a bishop present, in which case he would preside). These were always occasions of great solemnity, and on six days of the year (Christmas Day, the Epiphany, Easter Day, Whit Sunday, All Saints' Day and St Edward's day) the king and queen would wear their crowns and carry sceptres in the procession, accompanied by lords in 'distinctive apparel', one of whom would carry the sword of state and another the cap (or birretum).
The chapel was a moveable establishment, which accompanied the king and his court around the kingdom, and indeed abroad (including on military campaigns); in 1415, for example, under Edmund Lacey as dean, it accompanied Henry V to Agincourt, where mass was sung in the king's presence on the morning of the battle. The Serjeant (or Servant) of the Vestry is noted as having responsibility at this time for the carriage of ornaments, books, vessels and other items for the chapel, as it moved from place to place with the king and his royal court. Boy singers are recorded, with John Plummer later serving as their singing master. In the 1440s there were twenty-six chaplains and clerks in the Household, one of whom served as Clerk of the Closet (at that time a relatively junior position); the holder of this office later served as a close confidant of the monarch (by the 17th century the Clerk of the Closet was additionally described as 'Confessor to His Majesty'). In 1483 the Chapel Royal was incorporated by Edward IV as the 'Royal Free Chapel of the Household', with intention that the dean be assisted by three canons: a sub-dean, treasurer and precentor (albeit the king's death two months later meant that the scheme was never fully realised).
Early modern At the Coronation of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, the king was attended by his Grand Almoner and Under Almoner, the Confessor of the Household, the Dean and Sub-Dean of the chapel, seven chaplains and a gospeller, four epistolers, the Serjeant of the Vestry, the Clerk of the Closet, nineteen gentlemen and ten children of the chapel. The queen was also attended by her Confessor, two chaplains and the Clerk of the Queen's Closet. The epistolers were choristers whose voices had recently changed, who were kept on as yeomen of the chapel. The Eltham Ordinance of 1526 anticipated the more settled character of the future Chapel Royal, stipulating that, thenceforward, only a proportion of the personnel of Chapel Royal should accompany the king on his progresses or travels; the rest should remain in London, 'that there should be always some divine service in the Court, whereby men might be elected unto the devotion'.
During the reign of Edward VI, a cohort of twelve king's chaplains was appointed in order to promote Reformed doctrine across the kingdom: at any one time, two chaplains would be in attendance at court, while the other ten were seconded to preach around the country. In the 17th century the number of chaplains dramatically increased: Elizabeth I, at the time of her death, had 18; James I had 70 and Charles I no fewer than 140 (albeit only a core team of forty-eight Chaplains were ever 'in waiting': each being in attendance at court for a month at a time in groups of four; the rest were termed 'Chaplains Extraordinary' and had no actual duties). The early Stuart kings had envisioned a unified Anglican chapel royal across the three kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland; this was, however, firmly and effectively resisted in Scotland.
During the Civil War the Chapel Royal personnel were scattered. In the Commonwealth period the chapel at Whitehall had its organ, stained glass and paintings removed or destroyed, but it remained in use as a place of worship (two of Cromwell's daughters were married there). Following the Restoration the choral establishment was settled anew at the Palace of Whitehall, and Anglican services resumed; they continued to be held during the reign of James II, though he himself worshipped separately in a Roman Catholic chapel nearby.
Under Queen Anne there were forty-eight Chaplains-in-Ordinary and thirty-two Gentlemen of the Chapel Royal, twelve of whom were priests (precursors of the 'Priests-in-Ordinary') whose task was, by turns, to officiate at times of divine service. Chaplains (during their weeks in waiting) were required to preach 'in the Chapels on Sundays and other Festivals before the King, and in the Morning early on Sundays before the Household', and also 'to read Divine Service before the King out of Chapel daily, twice in the King’s private Oratory'. It also fell to them to give thanks before meals, in the absence of the Clerk of the Closet. The officers of the vestry (serjeant, yeomen and groom) functioned as vergers. Ordinarily, the Chaplains were the only people permitted to preach in the Chapel Royal, except on certain festival days (such as Easter Day and Whit Sunday, when the Lord High Almoner or his deputy customarily preached).
Lent was, by long tradition, marked with great solemnity in the chapel royal. During that season, the number of services was increased and the pattern of preaching changed: the Chaplains preached on Wednesdays (the Dean of the Chapel having preached on Ash Wednesday), Deans of Cathedrals and Collegiate churches were invited to preach on Fridays (with the Dean of Westminster always preaching on Good Friday) and Bishops preached, by invitation, on Sundays (with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York preaching, each in alternate years, on Palm Sunday). In the Georgian period, the monarch's progress to and from chapel on Sundays and on major festivals was, in itself, a ceremonial event, with gentlemen pensioners, gentlemen ushers and serjeants-at-arms in attendance. On the twelve principal feast days (known as Collar Days), the monarch attended with greater ceremony and, after Divine Service, presented a byzant of gold at the altar (except on the Feast of Epiphany, when the offering took the form of gold, frankincense and myrrh). The dean was responsible for distributing these offerings among the poor of London; (in the 19th century they were replaced by an annual contribution from the Privy Purse).
In 1702, fire having destroyed the Palace of Whitehall, the headquarters of the Chapel Royal was moved to St James's Palace. (Choral services continued to be held at Whitehall in the Banqueting House, which was provided with a pair of Reading Chaplains and a small choir for the purpose, until 1890). Increasingly, the Sub-Dean served as de facto chaplain at St James's; by mid-18th century he was required to 'supply the absence of the dean, and to be as frequently at the chapel as he can'. In the 1840s his job was merged with that of Chaplain to the Household at St James's (previously styled 'Confessor of the Household'), whose duties were 'to read Prayers every Morning to the Family, to visit the Sick, to examine and prepare Communicants, to inform such as desire Advice in any Case of Conscience, or Point of Religion, etc.'.
Late modern