London public house landlords summoned to Buckingham Palace to have licences renewed. Five London public house landlords have received summonses to attend a meeting at Buckingham Palace next week for the renewal of the only five in licences in the country. Controlled by the King. The annual command to attend at the Palace is issued by the Board of the Green Cloth, which supervises the Palace kitchens and domestic arrangements. All five of the inns, the Silver Cross, the Clarence, the Ship, the Shades and a restaurant in Whitehall Court, were at one time in the 'Verge' of the old Whitehall Palace and their licences are still controlled by the Board of the Green Cloth. The most historic of the aims is the Silver Cross, 33, Whitehall, which was in 1598, the property of Sir William Waad, the son of Armagil Waad, the once famous 'English Columbus'. Sir Frances Drake is said to have drank there. Photo shows, Mr R Thorpe, licensee of the Silver Cross, reading his summons to Buckingham Palace in the bar of the public house. 7 February 1938