Tower of London Tour

Answer first

The Crown Jewels: real, still in use, and included in your ticket

They are the genuine coronation regalia of the British monarchy, kept at the Tower since 1661, used at every coronation since Charles II's, and shown in the Jewel House behind armoured glass. Here is everything a visitor needs: where, how much, how long, what to look for.

Visiting: ticket, queue, time, access

  • Ticket: included in standard admission (£37.00 adult, £18.50 child 5–15, under-fives free). There is no "Crown Jewels ticket"; anything sold under that name is Tower admission.
  • Where: the Jewel House in the Waterloo Block, north of the White Tower. Number 8 on our map.
  • Time: HRP says allow one hour including the queue. Inside, the crowns pass on a moving walkway; you can go round again.
  • Queue: the longest of the day on peak dates. Shortest at opening and after 15:00. The only way to be first in is an official early-entry ticket (the Opening Ceremony experience, daily until 1 November 2026, or the Wednesday and Friday Ravens experience) or a third-party early-access tour. Nothing lets you bypass the queue once the doors are open.
  • Access: level throughout; staff can stop the walkway. Low light and sound effects. Braille and tactile displays. No photography.
Place page

Sources: HRP's Crown Jewels, tickets and accessibility pages, checked 21 Oct 2026.

Book

Be first into the Jewel House

Both options use the same early entry: you are inside before the gates open and go straight to the Crown Jewels. The official ticket is cheaper and has no guide; the tour adds a guided orientation of the grounds afterwards. On a quiet weekday, standard admission and a 09:00 arrival achieves nearly the same thing.

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What to look for

  • St Edward's Crown (1661): solid gold, 2.23 kg, used only at the moment of crowning, most recently on 6 May 2023.
  • The Imperial State Crown (1937): 2,868 diamonds, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, 269 pearls and 4 rubies; the Black Prince's Ruby (actually a spinel), the Stuart Sapphire and the Cullinan II diamond. Worn leaving the Abbey and at the State Opening of Parliament.
  • The Sovereign's Sceptre with Cross: set with Cullinan I, 530.2 carats, the largest colourless cut diamond in the world. The hammer and knife used to cleave the 3,106-carat Cullinan rough are now displayed.
  • The Coronation Spoon: the one medieval survivor. Everything else was destroyed after Charles I's execution in 1649 and remade for Charles II.
  • Queen Camilla's crown: made for Queen Mary in 1911, altered for 2023, now on display.
  • The empty frames of the state crowns of George I, George IV and Queen Victoria, showing how the same stones moved from crown to crown.

The Koh-i-Noor

The diamond is set in the crown made for Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in 1937 and displayed in the Jewel House. HRP's own exhibition now presents its history "as a symbol of conquest" through Mughal, Persian, Afghan and Sikh owners before it was ceded to the British in 1849. Its ownership is disputed, with claims from India and elsewhere, and it was not used at the 2023 coronation. We mention this because visitors ask; the display inside addresses it more fully than most guides do.

The entrance to the Jewel House in the Waterloo Block
Photo: Son of Groucho, CC BY 2.0

The story

The morning Colonel Blood stole the crown

In 1671 a man dressed as a parson flattened the state crown with a mallet in the Martin Tower and nearly got away with it. The king gave him a pension.

A short history

  • 1649: Parliament has the medieval regalia broken up and melted after the execution of Charles I.
  • 1661: a new set is made for Charles II's coronation and kept at the Tower from then on.
  • 1671: Blood's attempt in the Martin Tower.
  • 1939–45: removed in secret to Windsor Castle for the war.
  • 1994: the current Jewel House opens in the Waterloo Block.
  • 2023: the regalia return from the coronation to a redisplayed exhibition.

Questions people ask

Are the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London real?
Yes. Historic Royal Palaces answers this directly: they are real, they are part of the Royal Collection held in trust for the nation, and they are a working set still used at coronations and the State Opening of Parliament. Pieces leave for ceremonies; "in use" signs mark the gaps.
Where are the Crown Jewels?
In the Jewel House inside the Waterloo Block, on the north side of the inner ward directly north of the White Tower, under armed guard. The Crown Jewels have been kept at the Tower since 1661.
Do I need a separate ticket for the Crown Jewels?
No. The exhibition is included in standard Tower of London admission (£37.00 adult, £18.50 child). No ticket sold anywhere lets you skip the Jewel House queue; early-entry tickets put you at the front of it.
How long does the Crown Jewels queue take?
Historic Royal Palaces says allow one hour for the exhibition including the queue. On peak days (Easter to October, weekends, school holidays) the queue alone can pass 45 minutes in the middle of the day. It is shortest at opening and after 15:00.
Can I take photos of the Crown Jewels?
No. Photography is not allowed anywhere in the Jewel House.
Is the Crown Jewels exhibition wheelchair accessible?
Yes. The Jewel House has level access throughout, and the moving walkway past the crowns can be stopped by staff on request. It is dimly lit with sound effects.