Historic moment female Beefeater locks Tower of London for first time in 700 years in ‘fabulous honour'
AJ Clark, 50, can perform the task after becoming the first female
Advertisement
5
AJ Clark has become the first female Beefeater to lead the Ceremony of the Keys in 700 years
Credit: Peter Jordan
5
The ritual dates to 1340 after King Edward III arrived unannounced and was furious he could enter unchallenged
Credit: Alamy
5
AJ Clark was recently promoted to yeoman sergeant, allowing her to carry the keys
Credit: Alamy
Other women have played a role in past ceremonies. But only sergeants carry the King's Keys.
AJ told The Sun: 'I still pinch myself.
'It's just fabulous.
'There is so much
history
and it is such an honour to be part of it.'
Advertisement
READ MORE LONDON NEWS
The ritual dates to 1340 after King Edward III arrived unannounced and was furious he could enter unchallenged.
The ceremony lasts from 9.53pm to 10pm.
We watched as AJ emerged from the Byward Tower — where Anne Boleyn lived before her 1536 execution — with a lantern and the keys.
She walked alone to
Advertisement
Most read in The Sun
Breaking
Latest
They marched to the Middle Gate then the Byward Gate, where AJ closed and locked the huge wooden doors.
Back at the Bloody Tower — where King Edward V, 12, and brother Richard, nine, were murdered — a sentry challenged AJ: 'Halt! Who goes there?'
Adorable moment King's Guard breaks protocol to nod at little boy who dreams of becoming a beefeater
AJ replied she had 'King Charles' keys' and her group was allowed to pass.
She gave the keys to the King's representative, before the playing of
Advertisement
AJ, of
Burnley
, spent 24 years in the Army before becoming a Beefeater in 2017.
She lives in
the Tower
with her husband and three dogs.
She added: 'It is the shortest military ceremony in history, but for us the most important.
'Being a yeoman warder is magical.'
Advertisement
5
AJ spent 24 years in the Army before becoming a Beefeater in 2017
Credit: Peter Jordan
5
She lives in the Tower of London with her husband and three dogs.
Credit: Ian Whittaker - The Sun
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- The Irish Sun
Gardening pro's 3 key jobs to do this weekend to stop rose black spot – including £3 bloom boost
WE love a rose in the UK - and traditionally our gardens are stuffed full of beautiful blooms that have been bred for thousands of years. But how frustrating is it when you spot the 3 Rosa laevigata has 'dinner plate-sized' flowers Credit: Alamy 3 Charles Shi is in charge of the Wild Rose garden at Kew Gardens, London Credit: Supplied 3 Black spot is a fungal disease that first appears as black spots on the roses' leaves. Credit: Alamy Black spot is the nemesis of all rose-growers - a fungal Then the leaf will start to yellow - and fall off - usually spreading further down the plant. And although it doesn't kill the rose - it can weaken it - making it susceptible to other Spores can overwinter on fallen leaves - and then infects the soil and then the plant next year. Read More Gardening Fight against it by making sure that all the fallen leaves are thrown away - not put on the compost. And make sure the rose is Although proper hard rose pruning is generally done in late winter or early Spring - a light prune now won't be a problem. Also - mulching over winter can help. Most read in Fabulous And make sure you're watering the base rather than from the top of the leaves. Give your rose a dose of proper liquid rose feed - Or Finally - try and choose roses that are resistant to blackspot. Everyone can spot the pot plants - but you have 20-20 vision & high IQ if you can find five red roses in just 19 seconds The general advice with roses is not to plant them in the same soil that a previous rose was in. It can - in extreme cases - cause replant disease - which is where the rose will struggle to grow. You may even find it dies. It's because the roots won't establish properly. But the By the time the cardboard box has rotted into the soil, the roots will have established. But if you're fed up of black spot, powdery mildew and rose rosette diseases - then have you considered growing a wild rose instead? They might not be quite as extravagant and blingy as the cultivated varieties - but wild roses - known as 'Species Roses' in the catalogues - do a very good job of growing without any human intervention at all. In fact - they're the roses that all our bred roses originated from - and almost thrive on neglect. Charles Shi is in charge of the Wild Rose Garden at As part of it's restoration, he and his team travelled as far afield as China and Vietnam to bring back roses that are so new, they haven't been named yet. He told me: 'One of the great things is whilst they flower for a short amount of time - wild roses make up for that by being very resistant to disease. 'Even if they get smothered in 'They're also more hardy. And the early flowers are followed by hips if they're not deadheaded, which feed the birds over Winter. 'It's so important to conserve them - as they could have medicinal compounds that could cure cancer - we're discovering up to 100 compounds every year in our research - which are being used in medical trials. 'They also play a crucial role in ecological conservation by providing food and habitat for pollinators and wildlife.' Some of Charles' favourites include... Rosa Soulieana - which he's nicknamed The Sleeping Beauty Rose - as it's like the one in the book that surrounds the castle. Smells of Cinnamon and up to 4m high. Rosa hirtula - from the Hakone, Japan, at the foothills of Mt Fuji - The only rose with a tree-like habit, with beautiful spiky hips Rosa x odorata 'Mutabilis' A bushy shrub, about 1.8m in height, with purplish young foliage and almost thornless stems Rosa laevigata - has dinner-plate sized flowers. Also in Veronica's Column this week... Top tips, news, plant of the week, competitions and more PLANT OF THE WEEK Rosa 'Gorgeous' - a very easy to grow hybrid tea rose - with stunning pinky orange colour and strong fragrance - which when in full bloom almost looks like fire. Good for beds, borders and containers - and flowers from June to November. WIN! JOB OF THE WEEK Keep picking For more gardening content follow me
The Irish Sun
4 days ago
- The Irish Sun
Lottery results and numbers: Lotto and Thunderball draw tonight, July 23, 2025
THE NATIONAL Lottery results are in and it's time to find out who has won a life-changing amount of money tonight ( July 23, 2025). Could tonight's £8.7million jackpot see you handing in your notice, jetting off to the Bahamas or driving a new Porsche off a garage forecourt? Advertisement 3 Could you win big tonight with the National Lottery? 3 Previous winners have gone on to build mansions and buy islands You can find out by checking your ticket against tonight's numbers below. Good luck! Tonight's National Lottery Lotto winning numbers are: 03, 09, 11, 16, 21, 48 and the Bonus Ball is 22 . Tonight's National Lottery Thunderball winning numbers are: 11, 15, 25, 27, 28 and the Thunderball is 04 . The first National Lottery draw was held on November 19 1994 when seven winners shared a jackpot of £5,874,778. Advertisement READ MORE ON LOTTO The largest amount ever to be won by a single ticket holder was £42million, won in 1996. Gareth Bull, a 49-year-old builder, won £41million in November, 2020 and ended up knocking down his bungalow to make way for a luxury manor house with a pool. TOP 5 BIGGEST LOTTERY WINS ACROSS THE WORLD £1.308 billion (Powerball) on January 13 2016 in the US, for which three winning tickets were sold, remains history's biggest lottery prize £1.267 billion (Mega Million) a winner from South Carolina took their time to come forward to claim their prize in March 2019 not long before the April deadline £633.76 million (Powerball draw) from a winner from Wisconsin £625.76 million (Powerball) Mavis L. Wanczyk of Chicopee, Massachusetts claimed the jackpot in August 2017 £575.53 million (Powerball) A lucky pair of winners scooped the jackpot in Iowa and New York in October 2018 Sue Davies, 64, bought a lottery ticket to celebrate ending five months of shielding during the pandemic — and won £500,000. Advertisement Most read in The Sun The biggest jackpot ever to be up for grabs was £66million in January last year, which was won by two lucky ticket holders. Another winner, Karl managed to bag £11million aged just 23 in 1996. The odds of winning the lottery are estimated to be about one in 14million - BUT you've got to be in it to win it. Advertisement 3 Sandra Devine and her husband Mike won by chance - can you too?
The Irish Sun
5 days ago
- The Irish Sun
Incredible pictures show moment seagull SHATTERS cockpit of £73MILLION warplane
A WARPLANE strikes a seagull at an airshow display — shattering the cockpit canopy. Incredibly the pilot was unharmed and able to land the £73million 4 The seagull can be seen to the right of the £73million Eurofighter as it flies above an airbase in Spain Credit: SWNS 4 The exact moment of impact is caught by the photographer, as a huge cloud of debris erupts from the fighter's cockpit canopy Credit: SWNS 4 Despite the huge hole in the canopy, the hero pilot managed to safely land the Eurofighter jet Credit: SWNS A photographer captured the split-second strike over the San Javier Air Base in Murcia, Spain, on June 15. But snapper Javier Alonso de Medina Salguero said he realised what had happened only after checking his photos. They show the gull swooping into the path of the jet, before the bird is hit and A huge cloud of debris can then be seen exploding out from the pilot's cockpit area READ MORE WORLD NEWS Javier added: "I was at the base in the San Javier area, at the site where they took us photographers. 'We were watching the Eurofighter display when we saw it leave without finishing. "They reported over the radio it hit a seagull. "I had the whole sequence.' Most read in The Sun 4 The gaping hole in the cockpit canopy is clear to see as the pilot attempts to land the fighter Credit: SWNS Red Arrow forced to make emergency landing as bird strike smashes canopy mid display
