THE QUEEN'S AUDIENCE CHAMBER

This is the second of Hugh May's rich baroque interiors to survive. It is the room in which the Queen received visitors. The ceiling is also by Verrio (though clumsily restored) and, as in the next room to be seen, is a celebration of monarchy in the person of the Portuguese-born Queen, Catherine of Braganza, who sadly, did not produce an heir.

The Gobelin tapestries are the principal feature of this room. They are from The History of Esther based on cartoons by H F de Troy and were woven in the early 1780s. Esther was the 5th century Jewish wife of Xerxes, King of Persia. She foiled an attempt to exterminate the Jews of Persia.