FREE ENTRY into Windsor Castle for Local Residents ENDS SOON 

The Royal Collection who manage Windsor Castle, amongst others, have announced that from the 1st June Free Entry into Windsor Castle will cease for local residents and they will have to pay 50% of the relevant ticket price to gain entry.

It is totally understandable that The Royal Collection review their pricing from time to time. Looking at the numbers, Windsor Castle seems to attract half of all their UK visitor numbers, with over 1,000,000 people crossing the threshold!

The last few years have been especially tough for The Royal Collection as the nature of their legal status meant that they didn’t benefit, like many other organisations, from Gov loans and handouts during the pandemic and a quick look at Companies House shows they had to create a loan facility of over £50m to pay the wages and you can just imagine the heating bills! 

Windsor residents have benefitted from free entry into the castle for many years. It was Queen Victoria in 1837 who first introduced ticketing to visit Windsor Castle. My understanding is that she also decreed that Windsor residents should have free access to Windsor Castle but I need to check this with those in the know.

The Advantage Card was originally created over 20 years ago so locals could prove their residency. It has moved on since, becoming synonymous with cheaper parking for residents which has sadly also been heavily rescinded in recent years.

Windsor Castle employs over 400 people, attracts over 1m visitors and has ensured, while the town has struggled to attract new retail businesses in recent years, it has fared better than most other towns in England thanks to the castle and its history.

Looking at the website it would be fair to assume that local residents will be able to turn their tickets into 1-Year Passes and so adults will be able to get what is essentially an annual pass for just £15, way cheaper and far more interesting than an annual pass for another world famous local tourist attraction 😉

I will clarify details of Queen Victoria’s decree and the 1-Year Pass once I have them confirmed.

Thank you.

Jon Davey
Community Champion