Children of the Chapel

The Children of the Chapel, or Children of the Chapel Royal, are a group of boy choristers and actors who form part of the Chapel Royal, the body of singers and priests who perform for the monarchy of the United Kingdom. They were overseen by the Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal.

Sometime in the 12th century or earlier, a distinct establishment known as the Chapels Royal was created within the English Royal Court. Its musical establishment now claims to be the oldest continuous musical organization in the world. Children sang in church because their high voices were considered closest to the angels, and Queen Elizabeth desired entertainment and care for her “spiritual well being”. Boy groups from grammar school and choir school, ages 7–14, were royally patronized to perform songs for the queen and her court.

The choir now has just ten boys. They wear the distinctive state uniform that was introduced during the Restoration. Their special school within St James's Palace no longer operates, having closed in 1923; the boys all attend the City of London School and receive a choral scholarship from the king. In the past, when the boys were educated within the court, they were very much a part of court life and were entitled to many small special privileges.

The Choir's duties are to sing the regular services in the chapel of the Monarch's home and to otherwise attend as commanded. It is based in the two chapels of St James's Palace, and services are also sung in the chapels of Kensington and Buckingham Palaces. The Choir also takes part in many State and National ceremonies and at private events within the Royal Household. It consists of six Gentlemen in Ordinary, ten choristers, and a Sub-Organist.

At the coronation of Charles III and Camilla in 2023, one of the children of the Choir was chosen to give a welcoming address to the new King.

The Children of the Chapel, the Children of the Blackfriars Theatre, and the Children of the Whitefriars Theatre were troupes of child actors in Elizabethan and Jacobean England. The beginning of court performances dates back to the start of Elizabeth I's reign in England in 1558. Elizabeth I was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. She came into power the day that her older sister Mary died, and took over rule of England almost immediately after. This became the start of the Elizabethan era and was known for its influx of appreciation and recognition of the arts. The performances themselves started off as mainly choir concerts, but later became more musical and performative, and incorporated masks for costumes. The Queen was insistent on making sure the children mastered other skills, such as art, theatre, and various musical instruments, to enhance their talent and develop the quality of the performances as time went on.

By the accession of James I in 1603, the Chapels Royal was staffed by a dean, a sub-dean, and 32 gentlemen (both priests and laymen. It also had a choir of 12 boys. The age range for the group was never set in stone, but generally the boys would join around age 6, and would continue in the group up into their mid 20s. Although the older members were technically no longer children, they were not kicked out, and instead the overall number of boys grew. William Cornysh, who was Master of the Children from 1509 to 1523, first began the practice of having the boys' choir perform dramatic interludes at Court. William Hunnis was Master of the Children of the Chapel from 1566 to 1597; under his stewardship the boys played repeatedly at Court until 1584.

In 1576 (the same year James Burbage built The Theatre and began the era of popular Elizabethan drama), the land in which the theater was on, which was initially owned by Sir William, was negotiated on by Burbage so that the Chamberlain's Men would have a theater to perform in. The area was founded by the Dominican Friars in 1278 and bordered the River Thames near London. It was known for being a self-governing area, mainly to escape control and power of the city's mayor. Burbage bought out the first floor hall of the Upper Frater of the theater which would be turned into the Blackfriar Playhouse. Hunnis's deputy Richard Farrant rented space in the old Blackfriars priory, and began public performances by the boys. For unknown reasons, the troupe did not act at Court after 1584, though they did give some performances outside London. When the Children of Paul's were suppressed in 1590, due to their playwright John Lyly's role in the Marprelate controversy, child actor troupes went out of fashion for the next decade, and this inevitably affected the Children of the Chapel.