The Royal Peculiar

In his lifetime, Tony Benn was an opponent of the British Monarchy in its current form.  As his family prepares to say its final farewell, the Queen has been asked to help arrange his send off.  The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, has given his support to a request that the former MP's coffin should be allowed to rest in the chapel of St Mary Undercroft the night before his funeral.  And the person who has to make that decision is Queen Elizabeth II.

An artist's impression of St Mary Undercroft at the Houses of Parliament - the Queen has been asked to give her permission for the coffin of former MP Tony Benn to rest there the night before his funeral

St Mary Undercroft is a Royal Peculiar which means it comes under the monarch's control rather than the jurisdiction of a bishop.  Members of the Houses of Parliament can use it for weddings and christenings but any other use must be approved by the Queen who exercises her control of St Mary's Undercroft through the Lord Great Chamberlain.  In 2013, the coffin of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher rested in the chapel the night before her funeral at St Paul's Cathedral.

The Queen arrives at the funeral of Lady Thatcher in April 2013

Edward I built the chapel which was first completed in 1297 and his son, Edward II, added to it with more work being done by Edward III - that project was finished in 1365.  It was built beneath St Stephen's Chapel at the Palace of Westminster - the place where the royals worshiped - and was used by the Royal Household and the Court for their services.  

Edward I, King of England, 1272 - 1307.  The king was at the height of his power when he built St Mary Undercroft at the Houses of Parliament

But its story is far more colourful than that.  It fell into disuse and is said to have been turned into a dining room, a wine cellar and a stable for Oliver Cromwell's horses.  But because of its location it was largely untouched by the great fire which swept through the Houses of Parliament in 1834 although its interior was damaged by smoke and heat and the chapel as seen today is the work of Edward Barry who restored it in the 1870s.  Tony Benn was a great parliamentarian and admired by all, even his opponents, for his devotion to the House of Commons and to the democracy of election.  His story is so interwoven with the House of Lords, which he rejected, and the House of Commons, in which he was so keen to sit he gave up his title, that as the final chapter is written it is all but inevitable that the Palace of Westminster should play another part.  St Mary's Undercroft, too, has had an action packed story to tell and now it adds another interesting chapter involving the Queen and one of her greatest critics.