Start playing our £50,000 Royal Treasure Hunt

Get your riddling hats on again because our fabulous Treasure Hunt is back. 

After last year’s summer-themed game had the nation gripped by the challenge of solving our intriguing teasers – and the chance to win one of our spectacular prizes – this year’s Royal Treasure Hunt leads you on a jaunt through Britain’s magnificent regal past, taking in the golden age of Elizabeth I, the battles of the English Civil War and Victoria’s illustrious reign.

Each week for three weeks, one lucky reader will win a treasure trove worth £10,000, to be taken either as a cheque or as £10,000 worth of credit to spend at royal jewellers Asprey. 

Plus, each correct entry every week will be entered into a prize draw to find our overall Royal Treasure Hunt winner, who will be invited to spend a VIP weekend for two in London, including travel, a 5-star hotel, dinner at the Tower of London and a tour of the Jewel House. 

There they will choose their jewellery prize from our Royal Treasure Chest, or a cash alternative of £20,000. That’s a total of £50,000 that must be won.

All you have to do each week is solve a series of simple clues or riddles, the answers to which will be linked to Britain’s royal heritage. 

Each of the three treasure hunts begins with an artwork in Weekend magazine, accompanied by your first clue. 

Today’s is below, depicting a modern-day celebration of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, at the Tower of London and on the River Thames outside, together with your first teaser to solve.

The hunt will then take you around the country through a series of clues celebrating our wonderful royal history, printed each Monday to Friday in the paper. The answers might be famous castles, palaces, landmarks, historic attractions, towns or cities. 

This week these will all be related to Queen Elizabeth I and her reign. Crack the clue in today’s magazine and write it in the box provided. 

Then solve the riddle each day during the week and write it in the box provided in that day’s paper. Keep your answers, and then write all six in the grid provided in next Friday’s paper. It’s not essential, but you may want to keep today’s picture to help you.

Then, after you’ve solved the final clue on Friday, the letters highlighted in the grid will form an anagram –unscramble it and you will have the answer. 

If you think you’ve worked out the solution on Friday, call the hotline, text or email and leave your answer and personal details. 

The lucky winner will be drawn at random, and if it’s you, we’ll call you between 9am and 11am on Saturday 17 August. And if you don’t win, remember – there’s always next week. Happy hunting!

HIDDEN IN THIS PICTURE THERE’S A CLUE TO HELP CRACK THE PUZZLE 

The scene is the Tower viewed from the River Thames, busy with barges decked out in Elizabethan regalia as part of a modern-day celebration of the reign of Good Queen Bess

Solve the riddle and you could win £10,000 

Footsteps echo in the darkness. The sentry cries out, ‘Halt, who comes there?’ The Yeoman Warder replies, ‘The keys.’ ‘Whose keys?’ ‘Queen Elizabeth’s keys.’ ‘Pass then, all is well.’

Aside from the changing monarch’s name, this exchange has been spoken for centuries as part of the traditional ‘locking up’ of the Tower of London each night. Although the monarch no longer resides there, the Crown Jewels and many other invaluable objects still do.

The scene today is the Tower viewed from the River Thames, busy with barges decked out in Elizabethan regalia as part of a modern-day celebration of the reign of Good Queen Bess, while a replica of Sir Francis Drake’s famous galleon can be seen anchored nearby. 

Oily black ravens perch on the imposing seat of power while visitors weave their way among the sweetmeats and tankards of foaming ale served by Elizabethan wenches.

It’s a picture of happiness and good cheer, a fitting tribute to one of England’s greatest monarchs. But all is not right. 

The news that something is amiss is spreading among the Beefeaters, who all look alarmed, and not just those who have come face to face with one of the Tower’s legendary ghosts – or the lions (which are actually tame)! Answer the clues to help them keep the Tower and its treasure safe.

Start by cracking today’s clue in the scroll above, which points to the monarch’s seat of power. Further clues will be published, one each day, from Monday to Friday in the Daily Mail. By Friday you’ll have the answers to solve the mystery and win the prize.