King Charles is looped with the latest on the ravens at the Tower of London, a tradition with a superstitious history.
The King, 75, is staying up to date on the birds that live at the London landmark, Ravenmaster Michael Chandler revealed in a new interview.
“They are serving His Majesty as much as we in the [King’s] bodyguard do,” Chandler told The Telegraph in a piece published on Aug. 16, adding that King Charles “does check up on them regularly, as did his mother [Queen Elizabeth].”
The outlet specified that King Charles keeps up through an annual report about the Tower of London, which is a popular tourist attraction as the home of the crown jewels.
Ravenmaster Yeoman Warder Michael Chandler looks at a raven at the Tower of London on July 29, 2024.
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As the legend goes, ravens have been kept at the Tower of London since the reign of King Charles II, who ruled from 1660 to 1685, because he feared the kingdom would fall if they left the fortress.
“It is said that the King’s astronomer John Flamsteed, who had an observatory in the White Tower, complained that the resident ravens were impeding his work and requested their removal,” Historic Royal Palaces states about the superstition. “The King was advised that if the ravens left the Tower then the Kingdom would fall — an alarming sentiment for a recently restored monarch — and the legend has been kept alive ever since.”
The Tower of London on July 29, 2024.
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The Tower of London currently houses seven ravens named Jubilee, Harris, Poppy, Georgie, Edgar, Branwen and Rex, which is Latin for “king” and named in honor of King Charles’ coronation in May 2023.
A veteran of the Royal Marines and Yeoman Warder guard at the Tower of London since 2009, Chandler became Ravenmaster in March and told the Telegraph that he wasn’t particularly interested in birds when became a Yeoman Warder, or Beefeater, 15 years ago.
“Initially, the draw was the legend of the ravens and then being here seeing them, working among them…it was just natural” he explained. “I fell in love with the ravens. They’re individuals, they are characters, just like us.”
Ravens at the Tower of London on July 29, 2024.
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In his Ravenmaster role, Chandler leads a team of four Yeoman Warders who look after the black birds at the historic fortress, which attracts almost three million visitors per year. They are fed a special diet of mice, chicks, rats and raw meats, with blood-soaked biscuits given as a treat.
The ravens’ flight feathers are kept partially trimmed “to encourage them to stay at the Tower,” Historic Royal Palaces said, where they seem to be having plenty of fun this summer.
The Tower of London’s social media team has kept its feed updated with what some of the birds are up to, from a “cheeky peck” at the White Tower to a refreshing splash in a bath.
