Today
St James' Palace is still a working palace, and the Royal Court is still formally based there – foreign ambassadors are still accredited to the Court of St. James's, even though they are received by the monarch at Buckingham Palace. It is also the London residence of the Princess Royal, Princess Beatrice of York and Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy. The Palace forms part of a sprawling complex of buildings housing Court offices and officials' apartments. The immediate palace complex includes York House, the former home of the Prince of Wales and his sons, Princes William and Harry. Lancaster House located next-door, is used by HM Government for official receptions, and the nearby Clarence House, the home of the late Queen Mother is now the residence of the Prince of Wales.
The Queen's Chapel, built by Inigo Jones, adjoins St James' Palace. While the Chapel is open to the public at selected times, the palace is not accessible to the public. St James' Palace is one of the four buildings in London where guards from the Household Division can be seen (the other three are Buckingham Palace, The Tower of London and Horse Guards).
Since the beginning of the 2000s, the Royal Philatelic Collection has been housed at St James' Palace, after spending the entire 20th century at Buckingham Palace.
From October 2008 onwards, and officially from 6 January 2009, the staff of Princes William and Harry moved into their own rooms in St James' Palace and began reporting directly to the royal princes for the first time. In addition, the staff also began serving Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge upon her marriage to Prince William in 2011. Prior to 2008, the brothers' duties were looked after by the Prince of Wales' office at Clarence House.
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