Can you take photos in Westminster Abbey?

The current rule inside the church

Personal photography is allowed in most areas, according to the Abbey's photography page and FAQ. That covers pictures for your own use taken on a phone or camera while you walk the visitor route. Anything beyond personal use needs permission: professional photography requires approval from the Abbey's Press Office. Photographing children needs the consent of the adult with them, a rule the Abbey states explicitly. The Abbey is a working church, so the rule bends around worship: when a service, concert or rehearsal is under way, photography stops entirely, and staff may ask visitors to leave some areas.

Where photos are allowed and where they are not

Photos are allowed in most of the church and the areas your ticket includes. Three places are no-photo zones at all times: the Shrine of St Edward the Confessor, St Faith's Chapel and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries. The Shrine is in any case closed to general visitors except for worship and some tours, so the rule matters most on the verger-led tour, which goes there. The Galleries ban is worth knowing before you pay the extra £5, as you will see the 21 funeral effigies and the Westminster Retable but not photograph them.

• Allowed — Most areas of the church, plus the Cloisters, College Garden, Chapter House and Pyx Chamber covered by general admission.
• Never — Shrine of St Edward the Confessor, St Faith's Chapel, Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries.

Phones, flash, tripods and video

A phone or handheld camera without flash is fine; most other kit is banned. The Abbey does not allow flash, video recording, extra lighting, selfie sticks, tripods, monopods or drones. The video ban surprises people: you can take still photos but should not film the interior. Large camera bags may also be a problem, because the Abbey admits bags up to 40 × 30 × 20 cm only and has no cloakroom. If you shoot in the dim chapels, raise your phone's night mode or brace against a pillar rather than reaching for the flash.

• Allowed — Phone or camera, handheld, no flash.
• Not allowed — Flash, video, extra lighting, selfie sticks, tripods, monopods, drones.

During services and Evensong

No photography at all during services, concerts or rehearsals. That includes Choral Evensong, which many visitors attend free through the Great West Door: you may not photograph the choir, the Quire or the service, before or during it. The same rule applies on Sundays, when the Abbey is open only for worship. If you want pictures of the interior, buy a sightseeing ticket for Monday to Saturday and take them on the visitor route; if you want the music, attend the service with your phone away. The Houses of Parliament and Abbey tour adds another limit: its listing says no photography inside.

Getting good pictures within the rules

Go early and go on a weekday. The Abbey says weekday mornings, especially Tuesday to Thursday just after the 9:30am opening, are its quietest time, which means fewer people in the frame. The Cloisters and College Garden, both included in general admission, give daylight that the church interior lacks. A guided tour can help too: the guided tours on this site use the priority group entrance, and one of the 10 latest reviews of the skip-the-line guided tour says the guide pointed out photo spots. For pictures of the outside, the West Towers and the North Entrance on Parliament Square can be photographed from the street for free.