Exterior of the Army and Navy Club, Pall Mall, on the front-cover of the Illustrated London News to celebrate it's opening in February 1851. The club was founded in 1837 when many army officers returned from India and, finding the waiting-list for the Junior United Service Club so long, decided to form an Army Club. The Duke of Wellington refused to be patron unless the navy was also included, hence it became The Army and Navy Club.