Tea at Whitehall

Throughout July and August, Historic Royal Palaces (who are in charge of such historic sites as Hampton Court Palace and Kensington Palace) ran a pop-up tearoom in the Banqueting Hall in Whitehall. Despite living in London on-and-off for over half my life, I had never been to the Banqueting Hall. So when I heard that they were serving afternoon tea there, I jumped at the chance to go. I was definitely not disappointed with the location. The Banqueting Hall is the largest and most spectacular room in what is known as Banqueting House. The House is the sole surviving wing of what was a large royal palace - the Palace of Whitehall. It was built in the 17th century by James I, continued by his son Charles I, and was designed by Inigo Jones. Banqueting House is most famous for the Banqueting Hall with its fabulous painted ceiling by the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens.

So about two weeks ago I went to taste the delights of afternoon tea with a fellow tea-loving friend. The setting was fabulous, and there was lovely period correct music playing, but sadly the food wasn't amazing. The sandwiches were yummy, but the scones were lavender fruit ones - an interesting combination which I did not like. The lavender was just too strong and meant that you could hardly taste the clotted cream or strawberry jam. But overall we had a lovely time and I am very glad that I went.

Here are a few photos of the advertising leaflet:

Banqueting House

the Banqueting Hall

Photos taken by my friend on her mobile  (of course I forgot my camera and my phone died!!!) :

Only a section of the Hall was cornered off for the tearoom. 

The food :)

The beautiful Rubens ceiling.

Here is the website, for Historic Royal Palaces, if you would like more info on the building Banqueting House.