Please direct enquiries and requests for research access to the Royal Archives through our email contact form or by writing to The Royal Archives, Windsor Castle, Windsor, Berkshire SL4 1NJ.

As the Royal Archives receives a significant number of enquiries every week, there may be some delay in the receipt of a full reply to your enquiry. We therefore request your patience, and assure you that we will reply as soon as we are able. 

The Royal Archives has limited researcher facilities and pre-visit security clearance is necessary, therefore appointments should be made well in advance. If you are travelling from abroad, please contact us well ahead of your visit in order to reserve a research room seat.

All media requests for access to the Royal Archives should be directed to the Royal Collection Trust Press Office in the first instance.

Access to Records in the Royal Archives

Access to the records held in the Royal Archives is granted solely at the discretion of the Keeper of The King’s Archives.

When considering public requests for information from, or access to, its historic collections, the Royal Archives applies four principles: 

1. ‘Information First’ : Access to the collections is on the basis of information sought. 

2. Unique Content: Consideration will be given to applications where the material or content can be found only in the Royal Library and Royal Archives. Where it can be accessed elsewhere (for example, online or in other libraries or archives), external researchers will be expected to have consulted those sources first. 

3. Historical Research: Access is granted for the purpose of ‘historical research’. This term is widely defined, and recognises the huge range of subjects and themes and the myriad ways in which research is conducted. 

4. Equitable Access: The Library and Archives aim to provide access to a wide range of applicants, and this may mean that, from time to time, repeat applicants may be rejected in favour of those applying for the first time. 

The Royal Archives is subject to the Data Protection Act and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). For access to personal information about yourself (‘subject access’) in the Royal Household, including the Royal Archives, application should be made to The Data Protection Manager, Information Assurance, Buckingham Palace, London, SW1A 1AA.

The Royal Household is not a public authority, as defined by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Freedom Information (Scotland) Act 2002, and as such the Acts do not relate to access to records held in the Royal Archives. Also, the records in the Royal Archives are not defined as public records under the terms of the Public Records Acts.

Although exempt from FOI requirements, the Royal Household is committed to transparency, and to making information available, where appropriate.

Regarding the papers it holds of government business, it is the policy of the Royal Archives to follow voluntarily the regulations on closure and release to which counterpart papers in The National Archives are subject.