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The grounds of the Royal Hospital have been the site of the annual Chelsea Flower Show since 1913.
The Royal Hospital was founded by King Charles II, who issued a Royal Warrant authorising the building of the Hospital on December 22December 22 is the 356th day of the year (357th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 9 days remaining. Events 1775 The United States Navy is formed 1807 The Embargo Act, forbidding trade with all foreign countries, is passed by the United S, 1681Events March 4 Charles II of England grants a land charter to William Penn for the area that will later become Pennsylvania. October 12 A London woman is publicly flogged for the crime of "involving herself in politics. August 31 Titus Oates is told to le, in order to make provision for old or injured soldiers. Many of these soldiers, who were no longer fit for service, had been kept on regimentA regiment is a military unit, typically consisting of around 500-700 soldiers. The term came into use in Europe around the end of the 16th century, when armies evolved from a collection of retinues following knights to a more formally organized structureal rolls so that they could continue to receive payment, because there was an inadequate provision of pensionA pension (also known as superannuation is a retirement plan intended to provide a person with a secure income for life. Although a lottery may provide a pension, the common use of the term is to describe the payments a person receives upon retirement.s for them.
Sir Christopher WrenSir Christopher Wren ( October 20, 1632 February 25, 1723) was an English architect of the seventeenth century, famous for his role in the re-building of London's churches after the Great Fire of London of 1666. Life and Times Wren is particularly known f was commissioned to design and erect the building. His design was based on the Hôpital des InvalidesLes Invalides in Paris, France consists of a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement now containing museums and monuments, all relating to France's military history, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building's origi in ParisEiffel Tower has become the symbol of Paris throughout the world. Paris is the capital and largest city of France. The city is built on an arc of the River Seine, and is thus divided into two parts: the Right Bank to the north and the smaller Left Bank toThe site for the Hospital was an area of Chelsea which held an incomplete building - "Chelsey Colledge", a theological college founded by James IJames VI of Scotland and I of England (Charles James) ( 19 June 1566 27 March 1625) was a King who ruled over England, Scotland and Ireland, and was the first Sovereign to reign in the three realms simultaneously. He ruled in Scotland as James VI from 24 in 1610. The area had been donated by Charles II to the Royal Society in 1667, but since the Society had been unable to find a suitable use for the site, it was repurchased by the King in February 1682 to provide the site for the Hospital.
Construction took place at a rapid pace and by the time of Charles II's death, in 1685, the main hall and chapel of the Hospital had already been completed. In 1686, Wren expanded his original design to add two additional quadrangles to the east and west of the central court.
Work was completed in 1692, and the first in-pensioners were admitted in February 1692. By the end of March that year, the full capacity of 476 former soldiers were in residence.
In 1694 a Royal Charter was established for a direct naval equivalent to the Royal Hospital Chelsea. Building began in 1696 on the Greenwich Hospital, and it opened in 1705.
In 1809, Sir John Soane designed and constructed a new infirmary building, with space for 80 patients, located to the west of the Hospital building on the site of the current National Army Museum . The infirmary was damaged by bombing in the Second World War and later demolished.
The first televised church service in the United Kingdom was broadcast from the Hospital Chapel in 1949.
In 2002, the Sovereign's Mace was presented to the Hospital - up until then, the Hospital had had no colours or distinctive device - the Mace is now carried at all the ceremonial events at the Hospital.