The Crown Jewels at the Tower of London
The working coronation regalia of the United Kingdom, held in a vault inside the walls. What is in there, why it is here, and what the ten minutes you get actually look like.
What the collection is
The Crown Jewels are the ceremonial objects used at a coronation: crowns, sceptres, orbs, swords, robes, the anointing spoon and the plate that goes with them. They are the only working set of coronation regalia left in Europe, and the most historically complete royal regalia anywhere. They are not a museum display of retired objects. They are still used.
Every departure listed on tower of london early access tour that goes inside the walls includes the Jewel House, and the difference between them is when you reach it, not whether you do. What else is worth the time once you are in is on the visiting page.
Why they are here and not at the Abbey
Because Westminster Abbey kept being robbed. A Keeper of the Crown Jewels was appointed in 1207, and through the 14th century the regalia moved into the fortress after a run of successful and attempted thefts at the Abbey, where they had been kept beside the shrine of Edward the Confessor. Coronations still happen at Westminster; the objects live three miles east.
1660, and why almost nothing is older
The medieval and Tudor regalia were sold or melted down under the Commonwealth after the execution of Charles I. What survives is largely a rebuild, made from around 1660 for the coronation of Charles II, which is why the collection is younger than most visitors expect. The continuity is in the ceremony and the forms, not in the metal.
Inside the Jewel House
The Jewel House is a vault in the Waterloo Block, a 19th-century barracks inside the walls. Queen Elizabeth II opened it in 1994 and it was refurbished in 2012. You approach through a sequence of rooms that set up the coronation before you reach the regalia themselves, and the display cases stand behind armoured glass with a moving walkway in front of the two most crowded.
The ten minutes you get, and how to use them
The walkway is there to keep a queue moving, and it works. You cannot stop on it. You can, however, ride it twice: step off, walk back round and go again, which almost nobody does. Look at the objects rather than photographing them — you are not allowed to anyway — and give the sceptre and the Imperial State Crown the second pass rather than the first.
Photography, and what the guards will stop
Photography is not permitted anywhere the regalia are displayed. That rule is enforced immediately and politely. Everywhere else inside the fortress you can photograph freely, including the grounds, the keep and the ravens.
When the queue is shortest
| Arrive | Typical wait | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| 9:00 to 9:30 | Around ten minutes | The cheapest way to an empty Jewel House |
| 10:00 to 15:00 | Up to an hour in August | The one bottleneck in the fortress |
| After 15:30 | Short again | Quieter than mid-morning, and better light outside |
| Before public opening | None | Only on the four early-access departures |
Queue pressure through the day, which is the pattern the early-access products in this list exist to solve.
No guide may come in here with you: the venue does not permit guiding inside the Jewel House. Every guided departure hands you over at the door and picks you up afterwards, which is worth knowing before you pay for one. The early access page sets out what the four morning departures do and do not include.
What else is worth your time inside the walls is set out on the White Tower page, and every departure that includes the Jewel House is compared on Tower of London Tours.