One of the must see attractions when you go to London is the Tower of London. It’s something you really only need to see once, yet it’s a fantastic experience, especially if you go on a tour with one of the iconic Beefeaters.
But if you’re looking for a different way to experience the Tower of London, there’s a little known ceremony that the public can witness that not many people are allowed to. It’s called the Ceremony of the Keys.
Basically, you get to watch the guards lock up the Tower of London for the night. And being British, the guards to it with an expected amount of pomp and circumstance.
Recently IanVisits wrote a blog post about the ceremony and said this:
The Ceremony starts shortly before 10pm, where the Chief Yeoman Warder goes to the main gate and formally locks it. As he then returns down the road inside the grounds of the Castle, a sentry soldier standing guard stops him approaching with the cry of “Who Comes Here?” (no, not who goes there, as the Yeoman is coming here – not going there!)
“The Keys!” he replies. “Who’s Keys?” challenges the soldier. “Queen Elizabeth’s Keys!” comes the reply and the soldier shouts “Pass – Queen Elizabeth’s Keys!” and steps back.
The Yeoman then turns the corner and heads up a flight of steps which lead up to the main grounds of the Castle and joins a group of Yeoman there. At the top of the Stairs, under the command of their Officer, the Tower guard present arms and the Chief Warder raises his hat, proclaiming “God Save the Queen”, and everyone responds with “Amen”.
You can read all the details of the ceremony on his blog and get details on how you can witness this really neat event.
IanVisits – Watching the Ceremony of the Keys
Author Info - Jonathan is a consummate Anglophile with an obsession for Britain that borders on psychosis. He keeps Anglotopia running in his spare time, always dreaming of his next trip to England, wishing he lived there - specifically Dorset - and is always trying to figure out a way to move to England. It will happen one day. Keep up with him on Twitter here. Read more from this author
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Anglotopia was founded by Jonathan and Jackie Thomas for people who love Britain - whether it's British TV, Culture, History or Travel - we cover it all. Anglotopia was started to get us back to the UK for a trip and it did that in 2009. Now, the goal is for Anglotopia to make our dream of living in the UK a reality.