The travels of Tim and Megan: Ceremony of the Keys

On Thursday 7 April, we crossed another item off our "Must Do Before Leaving London" list by attending the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London. Such is the popularity of the Ceremony of the Keys that you must apply for tickets (in the old-fashioned writing of a letter way) more than two months in advance!

The Ceremony of the Keys is the traditional locking up of the Tower of London and has taken place on every single night, without fail, for over 700 years, making it one of the oldest traditions in the world. The importance of securing this fortress for the night is still very relevant because, although the Monarch no longer resides at this royal palace, the Crown Jewels and many other valuables still do.

We were greeted at the outer gates of the Tower of London at precisely 9.30pm and our large group was ushered through the main entrance of the Tower and down towards Traitor's Gate and the Bloody Tower, where it was explained to us the history and tradition of the ceremony and how the ceremony would unfold.

At exactly 9.53pm, the Chief Yeoman Warder, dressed in his dashing red Tudor Watch coat and carrying an old-fashioned lantern in one hand and some big jangly keys in his other hand, walked from his post next to the main gate along Water Lane towards where we were standing. He was met by the Military Escort, made up of four members of the Tower of London Guard (red coats, large black bear-skin hats and meaty machine guns). Together, the Chief Yeoman Warder, the Yeoman Warder 'Watchman' and the Military Escort walked back down to the main gates of the Tower, which they locked and secured. Upon their return down Water Lane, the party was halted by the sentry and challenged to identify themselves (all part of the ceremony):

Sentry: "Who comes there?"

Chief Yeoman Warder: "The keys."

Sentry: "Whose keys?"

Chief Yeoman Warder: "Queen Elizabeth's keys." (identifying the keys as being those of the current British Monarch).

Sentry: "Pass Queen Elizabeth's keys. All's well".

Following this, the party made its way through the Bloody Tower Archway into the fortress (followed by us) where they stopped at the bottom of the Broadwalk Steps, precisely as the clock struck 10.00pm. On the top of the stairs, under the command of their Officer, the Tower Guard presented arms and the Chief Yeoman Warder raised his hat, proclaiming "God preserve Queen Elizabeth!". All of the guards replied "Amen!".

The Chief Yeoman Warder then took the keys to the Queen's House within the Tower of London for safe-keeping, while the Last Post was sounded (as a mark of respect for all past and present servicemen of the Monarch).

As with many events of ceremony in the United Kingdom, it takes some significant outside influence to interrupt the Ceremony of the Keys. The one time when the ceremony was interrupted was during World War II, when there was an air raid on London, and a number of incendiary bombs fell on the old Victorian guardroom just as the Chief Yeoman Warder and the Military Escort were coming through the Bloody Tower Archway. The shock and the noise of the bombs falling blew over the Military Escort and the Chief Yeoman Warder, but they stood up, dusted themselves down, and carried on. The Tower holds a letter from the Officer of the Guard apologising to King George VI that the ceremony was late, along with a reply from the King which says that the Officer is not to be punished as the delay was due to enemy action. How understanding!

In case you were wondering how we got out of the fully locked and secured Tower of London once the ceremony was over, they craftily left the small doorway carved into the huge main gate open, for us to pass through.

We were not allowed to take any photos during the ceremony, but we have a couple of lovely photos of the Tower of London bathed in sunshine below, as well as some other lovely London shots!