elainesj

Hi, I have tickets in hand for the Ceremony of the Keys for my upcoming trip to London. I have just found out that my stepfather would prefer not to attend (I have a ticket for him) but my sister in law would like to attend (she does not have a ticket). Can I give my sister in law my stepfather's ticket? The tickets we have are not labelled. However, I heard that they call out your name off a list. Would they care if I substituted someone different? I haven't seen anything that suggests they check ID. My stepfather's name is ambiguous so could easily be a girl's name.

I would have ordered my sister in law a ticket but at that time she wasn't interested. Now that she has heard more about what it is, she'd like to go and I will have a ticket "wasted" anyway. Thanks.

dorfan2

I think you could. They just took our tickets without looking at the ticket, or an ID.

adrienne

It's been quite a while since I've been to the ceremony of the keys but no one's name was called out. You showed your ticket when you entered the grounds. Didn't show any ID.

elainesj

Awesome - thought it might be that easy, but figured it was best to ask rather than show up and run into issues.

Challiman

I was there May 2013 and they really did not check ID for ticket holders. We arrived when it was dark and were hustled in, don't think they were particular about who, just that they had a ticket.
But, I will give you a piece of advice I so wish someone had given me. Especially is you are short. After being escorted in and through the gate, we were told to line up on the right side of an area. I did not realize that was where the actual ceremony was going to take place, so didn't make any effort to stand in front of the group. When it became clear what was happening I tried to move forward a bit, since there were 5-6 very tall men in the front row. No such luck. I heard the ceremony but sure didn't see it. Very disappointing

elainesj

Thanks so much for the tip! I'm short (just 5 ft) and my kids get grumbly when all they see are heads. So I usually make an extra effort to be in the front (I'll wait 1-2 hours or more for fireworks, etc)

adrienne

A long time ago there was a post about where to stand for the Ceremony and I followed it exactly and saw everything.

Not only should you be in the front initially to see what's happening but when you move forward, up the slope, (away from Traitor's Gate) be in the front of the group as well. Because you're standing on a slope, the people in the back don't see much at all. It's easy to get pushed to the back to you need to be a bit assertive to stay in the front.

janisj

I've had them call out names . . . And not call out names. But even when they do, it is only the name of the person who requested the tix, Like "janisj - party of five". So you should be fine.

elainesj

Fantastic - you guys are awesome