Banqueting House, Whitehall Banqueting House, Whitehall The Banqueting House, Whitehall, is the grandest and best known survivor of the architectural genre of banqueting house and the only remaining component of the Palace of Whitehall. The building is important in the history of English architecture as the first structure to be completed in the neo-classical style, which was to transform English architecture. Begun in 1619 and designed by Inigo Jones in a style influenced by Andrea Palladio, the Banqueting House was completed in 1622 at a cost of £15,618, 27 years before King Charles I of England was beheaded on a scaffold in front
2nd Parliament of King Charles I King from his advisors. To some extent it was a polite fiction that the King was not himself behaving wrongly, but that he was badly advised. However, among many members of parliament there was a genuine dislike for the Duke of Buckingham. Buckingham had originally been a favourite of the James I and had a great deal of contact with Charles while he was growing up. With the accession of Charles as king, Buckingham began to play an ever-growing role in the formulation and execution of policy. The Commons openly criticised him and would not provide the King with money