The Royal Collection Trust has announced an expanded programme of East Wing tours at Buckingham Palace, exclusive tours of St James’s Palace, and a new £1 ticket scheme for Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, available to individuals receiving Universal Credit and other specified benefits.
Visitors will see the State Rooms used by members of the Royal Family for official entertaining, including the White Drawing Room, Throne Room and Ballroom. A visit to the State Rooms can be combined with a Garden Highlights Tour, which takes in areas of the Palace Garden, including the Herbaceous Border, Summer House, Rose Garden and Waterloo Vase.
The East Wing at Buckingham Palace encompasses the building’s front façade and features the famous central balcony. In 2024, the East Wing opened to the public for the first time in its 175-year history, with almost 6,000 people combining their visit to the State Rooms with an East Wing Highlights Tour over the summer months.
Following the success of this trial, which visitors extremely well received, the East Wing will open to the public again in 2025 with an expanded programme of tours. Led by expert guides, all tours will see groups of up to 20 people exploring rooms on the East Wing’s Principal Floor, which contain examples of the finest Chinese and Japanese porcelain, 19th-century furniture and paintings in the Royal Collection.
For the first time, visitors joining East Wing tours will have the experience of entering through the Palace’s front gates and across the famous Forecourt, just as guests do for official royal events. Visitors will then tour the Centre Room, from which they will have a view of the balcony and the Victoria Memorial; the Yellow Drawing Room, with its towering Chinese porcelain pagodas; and the 240-foot-long Principal Corridor, featuring paintings by artists including Thomas Gainsborough, Sir Thomas Lawrence and Franz Xaver Winterhalter.
In 2025, visitors will have two options for experiencing the East Wing of Buckingham Palace:
East Wing Guided Tours – Mid-January to late May
These brand-new 90-minute tours, which do not include a visit to the State Rooms, are designed to give visitors a more in-depth look at the history of the East Wing and a chance to appreciate up close the detail and craftsmanship of the works of art on display at a time when the Palace is not usually open to the public. Further details and an on-sale date will be announced in due course.
East Wing Highlights Tours – July to August as part of the summer opening:
Visitors to the summer opening of Buckingham Palace will once again be able to add a Highlights Tour of the East Wing to their standard State Rooms visit. For 2025, these tours will be extended from 45 to 60 minutes and include the newly restored Chinese Dining Room. Originally known as the Pavilion Breakfast Room, the Chinese Dining Room was created for Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their children to enjoy breakfast together. Like other rooms on the Principal Corridor, it is decorated with Chinese- and Japanese-inspired furniture and works of art moved from George IV’s Royal Pavilion in Brighton, which was sold to finance the East Wing’s creation.
St James’s Palace
Following successful trials in 2022 and 2023, Exclusive Guided Tours of St James’s Palace will be available on selected weekends in spring 2025. From its origins as a residence for Henry VIII to its status today as the official seat of the British monarchy, St James’s Palace is steeped in 500 years of fascinating royal history.
Highlights of the tour include views of the Palace’s surviving Tudor architecture, such as its courtyard and gatehouse; paintings, furniture and decorative arts from the Royal Collection, including Mortlake tapestries acquired by Charles I; and the Throne Room and Picture Gallery, where the Accession Council of King Charles III was held on 10 September 2022. Tours also include a view of the Chapel Royal, where Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were married and where, more recently, the christenings of Prince George and Prince Louis took place.
Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse
Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse are open to the public year-round. In 2025, a new scheme of £1 tickets, available to those receiving Universal Credit and other named benefits, will be launched at both royal residences, initially available between 1 January and 4 April. Those eligible can bring up to five household members along with them to explore the Castle or the Palace for £1 each. The scheme is part of Royal Collection Trust’s charitable aim to find welcoming and inclusive ways for everyone to enjoy the Palaces and the Collection. It was first launched in 2024 at The King’s Galleries in London and Edinburgh, which will continue to offer £1 tickets for exhibitions in 2025.
Click here to discover more about the Royal Collection Trust.
