The Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London
The gates are locked at 9.52 every night, to a script that has not changed in centuries. It is described as the oldest extant military ceremony in the world, and there are two ways to be there.
What happens at 9.52pm
At exactly 9.52pm the Chief Yeoman Warder leaves the Byward Tower in a Tudor watchcoat and bonnet, carrying a candle lantern, and falls in with the Escort to the Keys, an armed party from the Tower Guard. He hands the lantern to a soldier. The party marches to the outer gate, and he locks it, then the gates of the Middle and Byward Towers. The sentries salute the keys as they pass.
The words, and who says them
At the Bloody Tower archway a sentry challenges the party. The exchange is fixed:
Sentry: “Halt! Who comes there?”
Chief Warder: “The keys.”
Sentry: “Whose keys?”
Chief Warder: “King Charles’s keys.”
Sentry: “Pass King Charles’s Keys. All’s well.”
The party then marches to the foot of the Broadwalk Steps, where the main Tower Guard presents arms. The Chief Warder steps forward, removes his bonnet and proclaims “God preserve King Charles.” The guard answers “Amen”, the Waterloo Barracks clock strikes ten, and the Last Post sounds.
Seven hundred years without a break
The ceremony is held every evening and is the best-known of the fortress’s traditions. It is the evening lock-up, not the morning unlocking that the early-access tours attend — a distinction worth holding on to, because the two are often confused and only one of them is ancient.
What the evening is actually like
You gather outside the gate in the dark, are checked in by name, and are then walked into a fortress with nobody else in it. The ceremony takes about seven minutes and is watched in near silence. It is short, it is not a performance, and the Warders do not play it for effect. Several people find that the reason it lands.
Rules on the night
Full names of every person attending are required at booking, and identification is checked. Photography is not permitted during the ceremony itself. Dress for standing outdoors in whatever the weather is doing, because the whole thing happens in the open. Arrive when you are told to arrive: the gates shut and the ceremony does not wait.
The ballot, and what it costs
Places are free and allocated by ballot, and the ballot is heavily oversubscribed. Numbers each night are small, the security check is thorough, and full names are required in advance. If you want to go for nothing, apply early and be prepared to lose.
The paid way in
One departure below carries guaranteed access alongside a Yeoman Warder’s tour of the floodlit grounds — Execution Square, Traitors’ Gate, the Bloody Tower and the keep from the outside. Its own listing is explicit that the Crown Jewels and the building interiors are not included: it is a tour of the grounds and the ceremony. Read that before booking, because it is the single most common misunderstanding about this evening.
| The free ballot | The after-hours tour | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | $220 per person |
| Certainty | A lottery, months ahead | Guaranteed on your date |
| What else you see | The ceremony only | A Warder-led walk of the grounds first |
| The Crown Jewels | No | No — the listing excludes them |
| Booking | Names required in advance | Names required in advance |
The two routes in, compared on the things that actually differ.
Whichever route you take, the evening is not a substitute for a daytime visit: the buildings are shut and the regalia are not part of it. Pair it with a day ticket rather than instead of one — compare every Tower of London tour and ticket first.
Who the Chief Warder is, and what it takes to become one, is on the Beefeaters page. The evening departure and every daytime alternative sit side by side on Tower of London Tours.