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.

The man who tried to take off the Queen's head

A long lasting era in Britain's modern monarchy came to an end in the early hours of this morning when the leading Labour politicians, Tony Benn, died at his home at the age of 88.  Tony Benn was one of the loudest voices in opposition to the monarchy remaining as it is now and over the course of his public life, which lasted more than sixty years, he more than once called for radical changes to the way that Britain is governed and the role given to the Queen within the country.  As he leaves the political stage, that era comes to an end.

Tony Benn, a fierce opponent of the role the Queen had in modern Britain, has died at the age of 88

Anthony Neil Wedgewood Benn was born in London in 1925, the second son of theologian, Margaret Holmes, and politician William Wedgewood Benn who began life as a Liberal but crossed the floor to join the Labour Party in 1928 before being made a peer in 1942.  Anthony was elected to the Commons in 1950 but the death of his older brother in an accident meant that when their father died, in 1960, he became Viscount Stansgate and lost his seat in the Commons.  He fought to renounce his peerage, with some commentators claiming his moves harmed the monarchy, and succeeded in 1963 allowing him to return to the Commons soon afterwards.  And when he was made Postmaster General by Harold Wilson in 1964, Tony Benn set his sights on getting rid of the Queen's head.

The Queen as seen on 21st century stamps - in the 1960s Tony Benn wanted her removed from postage

Benn began a campaign to have the Queen's head taken off decorative stamps - he argued at one time that it would give the creators more room for their pictures.  He never succeeded but tried several times to have the monarch removed from stamps.  He also spoke vociferously about the role of the monarchy in 20th and 21st century Britain, arguing that the Head of State should be elected.  In later years, he talked and blogged about the Queen becoming a private figure head, still living in Buckingham Palace but self funded and with no constitutional role at all.  

Tony Benn as Postmaster General in the 1960s when he argued that removing the Queen's head should be removed from decorative stamps

He left the Commons at the 2005 general election and in later years was a well known anti war campaigner and public speaker.  As he grew older even those who disagreed with his views couldn't disagree with his loyalty to his beliefs and his determination to fight for what he believed to be right. As he passes into history, an era in Britain's modern monarchy comes to an end.  And the man who refused to be a lord because he wanted to be a commoner is remembered by many across Britain as an elder statesmen.