The INTERIOR of the building is handsomely, and in some parts even sumptuously, fitted up in a style characteristic of its period. Especially in the State Apartments and the House of Lords, the ceilings, friezes, mosaic pavements, metal-work, and other decorative details will often repay more than a passing glance. The predominance of the monarchical theme, especially in the statuary and ornamental devices, reminds us that we are nominally in a royal palace.
From the public entrance we ascend the Royal Staircase to the NORMAN PORCH, intended to be decorated with statues and frescoes illustrating the Norman period. The clustered central column and groined roof should be noticed. Hence we enter the KING'S ROBING ROOM, used by the King on his state visits to Parliament. This sumptuous chamber, about 50 feet in length, has stained-glass windows and a chair of state beneath a canopy, facing the elaborate fireplace. Around the room, at the top of the dado, runs a series of carved panels, by H. H. Armtstead, with episodes from the Arthurian legend, beginning with the Birth of Arthur (by the window to the right of the throne). Above are frescoes, by W. A. Dyce, illustrating the virtues of chivalry (beginning to the left of the fireplace): Courtesy (Sir Tristram harping to La Belle Isidore), Religion (Vision of Sir Galahad), Generosity (King Arthur spared by his opponent), Hospitality (Sir Tristram admitted to the Round Table), and Mercy (Sir Gawaine swearing to be merciful). We next enter the ROYAL GALLERY, an imposing hall, 110 feet long, through which the sovereign passes on his way to the House of Lords. Tickets to view the royal procession in this hall are issued by the Lord Great Chamberlain. On the walls are two huge mural paintings by D. Maclise: The Death of Nelson (on the left) and The Meeting of Wellington and Blucher after Waterloo (on the right). Here hang also a painting by J. S. Copley, representing the last public appearance of the Earl of Chatham, and portraits of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The gilt statues of English monarchs are by B. Philip: Alfred and William I. (by the north or exit door); Richard I. and Edward III. (bay-window); Henry V. and Elizabeth (South door); William III. and Anne (West door). The War Memorial to Peers who fell in 1914-18 is to be placed here. The PRINCE'S CHAMBER, which follows, is decorated in a more somber tone, with dark panelling. In the recess opposite the entrance is a white marble statue of Queen Victoria, enthroned between Justice and Mercy, by Gibson. On the upper part of the walls are full-length portraits of the Tudor kings and their consorts (1485-1603; names inscribed). Below is a series of bronze reliefs of events of their reigns. Beginning to the right of the entrance: 1. Raleigh spreading his Cloak for Queen Elizabeth to walk on; 2. Elizabeth knighting Drake; 3. Death of Sir Philip Sidney; 4 (over the east fireplace). Field of the Cloth of Gold; 5. Trial of Catherine of Aragon; 6. Sebastian Cabot and Henry VII.; 7. Lady Jane Grey; 8. Edward VI. founding Christ's Hospital; 9 (over the west fireplace), Charles V. visiting Henry VIII.: 10. Murder of Rizzio; 11. Escape of Mary, Queen of Scots; 12. Mary leaving France. The door on the east side of this room leads to the Peers' Library, in which is preserved the death-warrant of Charles I. and other curiosities. We now enter the House of Lords, an imposing and lavishly decorated Gothic hall, 90 foot long, 45 foot wide, and 45 foot high. At the south end, beneath a gorgeous canopy, are the thrones of the King and Queen (the latter one inch lower than the former) and, to the right of the King, the state-chair of the Prince of Wales. In front, and separated from the throne by a gilded railing, is the Woolsack, a plain cushioned ottoman, occupied by the Lord Chancellor as president of the House of Lords. The remainder of the hall is taken up by the benches of the members (now 742), upholstered in crimson leather. At the north end is the Bar, where the Commons, headed by their Speaker, attend at the opening of Parliament, and lawsuits on final appeal are pleaded. Above the bar is the reporters' gallery, with the strangers' gallery behind. Ambassadors and distinguished strangers sit in the galleries at the south end, on each side of the throne-canopy. In the recesses above the throne and above the strangers' gallery are six frescoes, interesting as the earliest examples of large frescoes by modern English artists. At the south end: Baptism of King Ethelbert, by Dyce (centre), Edward III. conferring the Order of the Garter on the Black Prince, by Cope (left), Prince Henry (afterwards Henry V.) submitting to Judge Gascoigne, by Cope (right). At the north end: Spirit of Justice, by Maclise, Spirit of Religion, by Horsley, Spirit of Chivalry, by Maclise. The side-walls below the windows are panelled and bear a narrow brass-railed gallery. The twelve stained-glass windows depict the kings of England and their consorts from the Conquest, and those of Scotland from Robert Bruce to William IV., Victoria's immediate predecessor. In niches between the windows and at the ends of the hall are statues of the eighteen barons who forced King John to sign Magna Charta in 1215. The flat ceiling is profusely adorned with heraldic emblems. We now pass into the PEERS' LOBBY, a handsomely decorated square chamber, with a fine encaustic tiled pavement and good brass gates (by Hardman) in the south doorway. Over the north and south doors are the arms of six dynasties of English rulers (Saxon, Norman, Plantagenet, Tudor, Stuart, and Hanoverian), with the initial letter of the dynastic name below each. The PEERS' ROBING ROOM, to the west of the Lobby, contains two works by J. R. Herbert: Moses bringing the Tables of the Law to the Israelites (fresco), and the Judgment of Daniel (oil). In the PEERS' CORRIDOR, leading north to the Central Hall, are eight fresco paintings, by C. west Cope (1856-66), of the Stuart and Commonwealth periods. On the left: 1. Burial of Charles I. (beheaded 1649); 2. Expulsion of the Fellows of a college at Oxford for refusing to sign the Covenant (1643); 3. Cavaliers defending Basing House against the Roundheads (1645); 4. Charles I. raising his standard at Nottingham (1642). On the right: 5. Speaker Lenthall resisting Charles I.'s attempt to arrest the five members (1642); 6. London trained bands departing to raise the siege of Gloucester (1648); 7. Embarkation of the Pilgrim Fathers (1620); 8. Parting of Lord and Lady William Russell before his execution (1683).
