St James’s Palace has finally opened its doors, and I was on the first tour

I’ve always found St James’s Palace quite mysterious. As you travel up the Mall from Trafalgar Square, your vision is set so blindly on the glistening pile at the end of the road that it’s easy to miss the old red-brick palace, hiding in plain sight behind the high hedges and sycamore trees to the right.

Well, the most secretive royal building just got a bit less secretive. As of this week, the 500-year-old palace – for centuries the residence of the reigning monarch – opened its doors to the general public. And I was on the first tour of the season.

The tour begins

Our 30-strong group, gathered outside the side entrance on Marlborough Road, gave off the aura of the lucky families who had found golden tickets in their chocolate bars. Only, instead of a chocolate factory, we were about to embark on a tour of a royal palace older than ancient oaks. Instead of a flamboyant, tin-whistle-blowing chocolatier, our guide was a royal expert named Sarah who described St James’s as something of an “unknown gem” despite being the principal royal residence.

For many centuries, St James’s Palace has been closed off to the public, its courtyards and ornate staircases the stuff of the imagination. But then the palace quietly ran small-scale trial tours to Royal Collection newsletter subscribers in the autumn of 2022 and 2023. This year, the opening is on a much bigger scale and has been publicised widely: 2,500 members of the public will pass through the doors in April and May.

On entry, we were put through a security check and briefing. Photographs and videos would not be allowed during the tour, we were told. No touching anything, of course. And, somewhat disconcertingly, there would be no toilet stops during the 90-minute walk-around.

After passing through the lower corridor, past a very defiant-looking King Charles I (painted while things weren’t going too well for him), we entered the Colour Court, half-washed in sunshine. Here, we had a first glimpse of the Great Gatehouse, positioned rather unusually off to the side of the courtyard. Why? Because the architects used the original medieval foundations. The palace, I was learning, is very much a product of the gradual march of change. And fires.

Next, we reached the Grand Staircase. Here, the first thing that first grabbed my attention was a wonderful portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Richard Stone, gifted to the Royal Collection in 2015 when she became Britain’s oldest monarch. As we ascended the steps, it dawned on me that I was walking in the footsteps of royals spanning from the Tudors to the current era. From Henry VIII to Prince Louis.

The rooms where history is made

Up the stairs, we reached the Royal Apartments, the rooms where history is made. In the Armoury, part of the old Tudor part of the building, the floorboards creak beneath thick red carpets.

“I always think there’s a distinctive smell in here,” Sarah muses, pointing out the geometric displays of guns, spears and swords that adorn the walls. “Must be the gunpowder.”

It is from this room that the proclamation of the Accession Council was made in September 2022: “The Queen is Dead, Long Live the King.” But, in the absence of a balcony, the glass pane of the window was removed and a makeshift balcony installed. Such improvisation is required of a building that began its life as a leprosy hospital, before being repurposed as a hunting lodge and, only later, a royal palace.

In the Tapestry Room, we marvelled at the Mortlake-designed works that tell the stories of Venus and Mars and a fireplace engraved with “H” and “A” – Henry and Anne (Boleyn). Then, through to the Queen Anne Room, things get bigger and brighter, and more golden, as the influence of John Nash begins. The room is perhaps best known, in recent popular imagination, as the place where King Charles was invited to join a celebratory Samoan dance with a visiting dignitary during a Commonwealth reception – and obliged.

Through the Entree Room, where a Take That tribute band recently performed at a Christmas do (a fact that temporarily dissolved the mystique of the whole affair), we entered the Throne Room. While this is not the throne used during the coronations, when we speak of “the Throne” in the general sense, this is it.

“It has a touch of immortality to it,” said Sarah, as the group gazed on in silence.

Through the Picture Gallery, perhaps one of the more interesting rooms on the tour given the quantity of artworks hanging on the walls, including a fascinating scene including a lion tamer (see below), we reached a balcony overlooking the Chapel Royal. I closed my eyes for a moment and tried to imagine Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, standing, austerely, hand in hand, on the day of their marriage 185 years ago.

“Rumour has it that Queen Mary’s heart is buried just over there, beneath the choir stalls,” said Sarah. The notion was, over time, accepted as little more than folklore, until recent X-rays carried out during plumbing work showed that there is, indeed, a casket down there. Even today, mysteries of the last 500 years continue to be uncloaked.

A new open era for the royal residences

Sadly, inevitably, the St James’s Palace tours have already sold out. However, I have it on good authority that there will be more in the future. And if you are interested in taking a behind-the-scenes look at a royal abode, there are more options now than ever before.

In 2024, the East Wing of Buckingham Palace, including the room adjoining the famous royal balcony, opened to the public for the first time. And Balmoral Castle, understood to be Queen Elizabeth II’s favourite residence, opened previously off-limits parts of the castle for the first time last year. There are also now £1 tickets available to Windsor Castle, the Palace of Holyroodhouse and Buckingham Palace for those on universal credit.

It feels very much as if King Charles has made it his personal mission to close the gap between the royal family and its subjects. What an enlightened decision this is. And what a privilege it is to be able to turn the imagination into reality, if for just 90 minutes or so.

Highlights of the tour

The Grand Staircase

The Grand Staircase forms a key part of a ceremonial route through the state apartments. It is up these steps that esteemed guests ascended, for more than two centuries, to be met with a royal audience.

The Grand Staircase looks rather different today from the stone steps built by Henry VIII in the 16th century. In 2025, the Grand Staircase reflects the tastes of Edward VII, who, at the turn of the 20th century, stripped out the floral wallpapers favoured by Queen Victoria with lighter white-and-gold tones.

The Colour Court and Great Gatehouse

The Colour Court is one of four courtyards at St James’s Palace, named after the flag that was once raised to show which regiment of the Household Division of the British Army was on duty at the time.

A prominent feature of the Colour Court is Henry VIII’s Great Gatehouse, whose clock tower is topped with a bell tower and weather vane, partially hidden by the parapet at the top of the structure.

The Tapestry Room

On entering the Tapestry Room, your eyes immediately turn to the grand fireplace, which dates from Henry VIII’s reign and is inscribed with the initials “H” and “A” for Henry and his second wife, Anne Boleyn.

The room is decorated with tapestries that tell the story of Vulcan and Venus from Homer’s Odyssey. Charles I, when Prince of Wales, commissioned nine tapestries to be hung in this room, although after his execution in 1649 these were sold across Europe, along with many other works. Queen Victoria brought some of these back to St James’s Palace in the 19th century, to be cut and hung by William Morris and his company.

The Picture Gallery

Built during the reign of Queen Victoria, the Picture Gallery features a series of striking portraits including Sir Edwin Landseer’s Isaac van Amburgh and his Animals. Amburgh was a lion tamer from the United States, and his extravagant performances created quite the storm in Victorian London. Queen Victoria herself attended his shows seven times in six weeks in 1839.

The room is used for official purposes, such as during the Accession Council: it was in this room that King Charles III was proclaimed king.

The Throne Room

The centrepiece of the Throne Room is the exquisite, carved gilt and wood throne, which features the cypher and crown of Queen Elizabeth II. Above is a canopy of state. The silk velvet that surrounds the throne is embroidered with national emblems and Queen Victoria’s coat of arms (a lion and a unicorn). After being proclaimed king on September 10, 2022, King Charles III moved through to the Throne Room to hold his first Privy Council meeting.

The Chapel Royal

Right next to the Great Gatehouse is the busy working chapel, Chapel Royal, built by Henry VIII in the 1530s. Within the chapel you will find a great, coffered Tudor ceiling, and some magnificent examples of silver-gilt plate, including a set of altar candlesticks engraved with the monogram of the Duke of York (later, James II).

The chapel has hosted many significant royal events over the years. Most famously Queen Victoria’s marriage to Prince Albert on February 10, 1840. The chapel continues to host royal milestones, including the christening of Prince Louis in 2018.

How to do it

Tours for the 2025 season (1hr 30m; running on Fridays and Saturdays from April 11 to May 31; £85pp) have sold out. However, the palace plans to open its doors again in the future. 

Check rct.uk and the RCT e-newsletter for updates on future public tours.