Catholic Vespers will be celebrated at Hampton Court Palace next month for what is believed to be the first time in 450 years. Cardinal Vincent Nichols will celebrate Vespers in Henry VIII’s chapel on February 9. The Anglican Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, will preach. The service will be dedicated to St John the Baptist, as the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace was built by Cardinal Wolsey on the site of a chapel of the Knights of St John Hospitaller, dedicated to the saint. Before Vespers is celebrated, Cardinal Nichols and the Bishop of London will host a discussion on the bonds between Anglicans and Catholics and the dialogue they have had over the centuries. Their talk will address the relationship between the two communions and the monarchy and the role of the Chapel Royal in maintaining elements of Catholic worship. The Chapel Royal at Hampton Court is a Royal Peculiar, outside the jurisdiction of the diocesan structure. Two organisations, the Genesis Foundation and the Choral Foundation, are behind the historic ceremony. John Studzinski, founder and chairman of the Genesis Foundation, said: “Dialogue between faiths is much needed and welcomed in these turbulent times. We need to recognise that we have more in common than not. I’m therefore delighted that the Genesis Foundation is enabling the Catholic and Anglican churches to engage in dialogue on this site that is so rich in history, both theological and musical. It will be an unforgettable occasion and is genuinely one for the history books.” Michele Price, director of development at the Choral Foundation, said: “The Chapel Royal at Hampton Court played centre stage to the religious changes in the 16th century. Its musicians and composers met the challenge of serving the spiritual needs of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I, by producing new and beautiful music and in so doing it became the cradle of English church music. “This historic occasion enables us to explore our rich heritage and bring together Christian traditions as we celebrate 500 years of Hampton Court Palace.” A practising Catholic herself, she said: “I, along with a number of other Catholic chorister families, have always been made to feel most welcome to worship at the Chapel Royal and to contribute to maintaining its rich choral tradition. I am very much looking forward to welcoming the cardinal for this historic occasion.” Henry VIII worshipped in the Chapel Royal with two of his wives, Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. It is believed the chapel was last used for Catholic worship during the reign of his daughter Mary Tudor, and not under Britain’s last Catholic king, James II. The music will be performed by Harry Christophers and his ensembles The Sixteen and Genesis Sixteen. Paying tribute to the rich and turbulent religious history of the Chapel Royal, they will sing Thomas Tallis’s Magnificat, William Cornysh’s Salve Regina and John Taverner’s “Leroy” Kyrie. Cornish and Tallis were both Gentlemen of the Chapel Royal. Tallis, a Catholic, continued to serve in the royal household under Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary Tudor and Elizabeth I.