Historic Royal Palaces
Historic Royal Palaces (“HRP”) is the independent charity that loves and looks after six of the most magnificent palaces in the world: the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, the Banqueting House, Kensington Palace, Kew Palace and Hillsborough Castle and Gardens.
HRP raises funds so their palaces can be open to everyone. That means conserving these iconic buildings and collections, conducting research into their rich history and telling the stories of the palaces and the people who occupied them in new and inspiring ways. A visit to one of their palaces is not just focused on history: they also care for 1,000 acres of gardens and parks that immerse people in nature and enhance wellbeing.
Visit hrp.org.uk
To ensure everyone can access these amazing palaces, they run access programmes to enable adults, families, young people and children to create long-lasting memories through immersive and engaging experiences which we have supported since 2008.
HRP’s ‘School Access Fund’ offers primary, secondary, higher education and SEND schools from across the UK free access to the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace and Kensington Palace, with travel bursaries provided for those travelling from outside London.
On an Access Fund visit, pupils and teachers not only receive access to these iconic sites, but also receive a learning session of their choosing delivered by HRP’s award-winning costumed presenters, who help bring 1,000 years of history to life.
In 2025, HRP was able to welcome 20,611 pupils from 385 schools via the fund.
My favourite part of the trip was learning about its history. My favourite fact from history was the court case between St Francis the slave and his owner. My favourite Tower was the Bloody Tower because it had a really interesting history. And the castle was fun to go through too. I was so excited to get to the tower because I wanted to learn its history and it was great.
HRP’s ‘Amazing Days Out’ (“ADO”) programme reaches children, young people and their families who experience multiple barriers to visiting the palaces. These barriers could be financial, social, cultural, physical, cognitive or due to food insecurity. HRP work in partnership with neighbouring local organisations to support their ADO participants to fully engage with their palaces in ways that are enjoyable and relevant to them.
Additionally, HRP has had great success in reaching out to communities through its Community Access Scheme. The team works closely with local organisations to empower community groups to independently visit and engage with HRP’s sites in ways that are meaningful and interesting for them, so that everyone can find their story in the palaces’ rich history.
In 2025, HRP welcomed 200 new partner organisations, which saw over 17,871 individual visits through the Community Access Scheme, and 608 children and 906 adults visiting their sites through ADO.