Cermony of the Keys at the Tower of London

For the past 700 years, a tradition has taken place that not many people who live in London know about. The Ceremony of the Keys is the oldest, longest running military ceremony in the world.

Each night at exactly 9:53pm, the Chief Yeoman Warder locks up the Tower of London, where the English monarchy once lived and the crown jewels still reside. From inside the tower, he holds and lantern in one hand and the keys in the other as he is escorted by guards in red uniforms with tall bearskin black hats. He locks the gate and then walks back down the cobblestone path inside the tower with his escorts. Once they get a few steps in, a guard meets the group to question his motives. The following exchange then takes place:

"Halt! Who comes there?"
"The keys."
"Whose keys?"
"Queen Elizabeth's keys."
"Pass Queen Elizabeth's Keys. All is well."
"God preserve Queen Elizabeth."
"Amen!"

Once the Chief Yeoman Warder is allowed to pass, the guards march with him towards the center of the tower. They stop and one of them plays a short "Last Post" trumpet call that signals the end of the day.

Aaron and I got to experience the full ceremony (which only lasts for about 20 minutes) and hear some interesting facts about it last Thursday. There are no pictures allowed, so unfortunately I don't have any to share. The ceremony is free and open to the public, but you must book in advance and only a small number of tickets are available each evening. We booked ours this past spring; they are now sold out until January 2016!

Some interesting facts that we also learned:

• The ceremony has only been late once: during WWII, a bomb fell and literally knocked the Chief Yeoman Warder and guards off their feet. They stood up though and carried on. Afterwards, they wrote a letter apologizing to King George VI for being 3 minutes late. Soon they received a reply saying that because it was due to enemy action, they would be pardoned.
• During WWII, Hitler told his men to avoid bombing the tower because he wanted to live there once they had conquered Great Britain.
• 136 people reside in the Tower of London. The people that live there are employees (such as the guards) and their families. Currently, the oldest resident is 66 and the youngest is a 9 month old baby girl. If you are a resident and go out for a night on the town, you need to plan to stay somewhere for the night because you won't be able to get back in.
• There is a little market, a hairdresser, a pub and other little shops in the Tower for the people who live there. It's like a little village!
• At one time there were 27 pubs in the Tower of London... Talk about stumbling home!