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CEREMONY OF THE KEYS
The Tower of London is an icon of British history and also the location of what is possibly the oldest military ceremony in the world. Every evening at precisely 9.53pm, the Chief Yeoman Warder of the Tower emerges from the Byward Tower carrying a lantern in one hand and the Queen’s keys in the other. An escort is formed and they all march to the outer gates and lock-up. At one point, a sentry challenges the group with the words, “Halt! Who comes there?”, to which the Chief Yeoman Warder announces that he carries the Queen’s keys and is permitted to pass. The ceremony is believed to date back 700 years, to the reign of Edward III, who is said to have been furious when he discovered he was able to walk into the Tower at night, completely unchallenged. He demanded the gates be locked at sunset every night. Supposedly the only time the locking ceremony hasn’t taken place is when a bomb fell on the Tower during World War II.