also retains an important ceremonial function: it still is the place where the Accession Council customarily meets to proclaim the new sovereign and to receive from them the required oath. St. James's Throne Room is used for official occasions. For instance it is in this room that the lord mayor and councillors of the City of Westminster usually present an address of welcome to visiting heads of state on state visits. While the Throne Room of Buckingham Palace has two thrones for the (except for the others) reigning king or queen and another for the monarch's consort, the Throne Room at St. James's Palace contains only one throne, pertaining to the sovereign. As in the case of Buckingham Palace, the reigning monarchs throne is placed under a canopy. The velvet cloth behind the throne is dominated by the coat of arms of the United Kingdom. This room was the setting for the announcement of the engagement of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Kate Middleton. Palace of Westminster Although the primary purpose and reputation of the Palace of Westminster is as the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, it is also officially a royal residence. While the Palace has no throne room per se, the Lords Chamber contains at its head a throne, used by the monarch for addressing Parliament in the Speech from the Throne, arguably making the Chamber something of a throne room. Clerks and officers of the House of Lords bow to the throne when crossing the chamber. The Palace of Westminster also has a second throne under a canopy in the Robing Room, a room of the Palace that remains under the authority of the Crown (and not of either House of Parliament), under the direction of the Lord Great Chamberlain, and that is used by the monarch to robe and to unrobe before and after the State Opening of Parliament. Windsor Castle Windsor Castle has a throne room known as the Garter Throne Room, where a chapter meeting of the Order of the Garter, including, if necessary, the investiture of any new Knights and Ladies, takes place once a year. The room accommodates two rows of chairs for all Knights and Ladies of the Garter, with the Sovereign's Throne at the head. The current throne housed in the Garter Throne room is another personal throne of Queen Elizabeth II although sometimes the Indian