- White Sox heading for worst season in MLB history
- Hong Kong democracy tycoon's son warns time running out
- New migraine drugs no better than cheap painkillers: big study
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs again denied bail in sex trafficking case
- Brewers clinch division title as MLB playoff race heats up
- US stocks dip despite larger Fed interest rate cut
- Man City held by Inter as PSG pinch win in Champions League
- All Blacks recall Beauden Barrett for Australia Test
- Spurs late show saves Postecoglou blushes at Coventry
- PSG snatch late goal to beat Champions League debutants Girona
- Gittens' late double gives Dortmund Champions League win at Brugge
- Man City blunted by Inter in Champions League stalemate
- Hidden talent: French Olympic star Marchand opts for disguise
- MrBeast named in California lawsuit over 'Beast Games' show
- Gauff splits with Gilbert as coach after 14-month run
- Hundreds of thousands at risk in Sudan's El-Fasher: UN
- Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new sex crime charge
- Venezuelan opposition candidate says letter conceding election was coerced
- X update allows app to bypass Brazil ban: internet providers
- Arsenal's Odegaard faces lengthy injury absence
- India coal expansion risks massive methane growth: report
- China the top challenge in US history, top diplomat says
- Ronaldo's Al Nassr appoint former AC Milan boss Pioli
- Ainslie 'relieved' as British book place in Louis Vuitton Cup final
- Women's NBA will add 15th team in Portland in 2026
- Brazil fires need harsher punishment: environmental police boss
- Boeing to start large temporary furloughs amid Seattle strike
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill nine, wound 300
- 'Emergency' declared over falling UK butterfly numbers
- Stock markets, dollar slip before US rate decision
- Russian advance in Kursk 'stopped': Ukraine official to AFP
- UN members demand end to 'unlawful' Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories
- Snapchat pushes 'safer' platform image, but not everyone agrees
- So where does the oceans' plastic waste come from?
- Allied war heroes buried in Netherlands... 80 years on
- Marsh coy over Australia's choice to open alongside Head
- New London sculpture pays tribute to trans community
- Lebanon doctors tell of horror after pager blasts
- McIlroy eyes Wentworth glory after Irish Open collapse
- Italy seen overtaking France as world's largest wine producer
- Hezbollah vows vengeance on Israel for pager blasts
- Brook expects unified England after McCullum's white-ball takeover
- Kamindu Mendis century rescues Sri Lanka against New Zealand
- Two dead in botched armed raid on Russian retailer's office
- UK train drivers back govt pay deal to end strikes
- Man who copied French rapist says he deserves to punished
- Eriksen will wait to settle Man Utd future
- Former England striker Carroll signs for fourth-tier Bordeaux
- Van Dijk hails Liverpool's 'calm' response in win over AC Milan
- End of the party? Tupperware files for bankruptcy
RBGPF | 5.79% | 60.5 | $ | |
BCC | 1.33% | 137.06 | $ | |
JRI | 0.45% | 13.44 | $ | |
BCE | 3.09% | 35.61 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.02% | 25.055 | $ | |
NGG | -0.46% | 70.05 | $ | |
SCS | 0.71% | 14.11 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.12% | 24.98 | $ | |
RIO | -0.02% | 62.91 | $ | |
RELX | -0.82% | 47.37 | $ | |
RYCEF | 1.37% | 6.55 | $ | |
GSK | -0.31% | 42.43 | $ | |
VOD | 0.49% | 10.23 | $ | |
BTI | -0.34% | 37.88 | $ | |
AZN | 0.06% | 78.58 | $ | |
BP | -0.37% | 32.43 | $ |
At Tower of London, survival of UK in hands of new Ravenmaster
As a marine commando, Michael Chandler knew all about daunting missions, but in his new role of Ravenmaster at the Tower of London, legend would have it that the survival of the United Kingdom now rests in his hands.
King Charles II, who reigned from 1660 to 1685, is thought to have been the first to insist on the protection of the ravens at the legendary 900-year-old Tower.
That followed the monarch learning of an ancient prophecy stating that if the ravens ever left the fortress, it would collapse, dooming the kingdom too.
Since then, members of the Yeomen Warders -- the ceremonial guards responsible for securing the tower, in particular the Crown Jewels -- have taken care of the birds.
The warders, commonly known as Beefeaters and led by a "Ravenmaster" since the late 1960s, must ensure that at least six birds live in the tower at all times, according to the rules laid down by Charles II.
Michael "Barney" Chandler, 57, is only the sixth person to take on this solemn role, starting back in March.
Dressed in his black and red uniform and identifiable by his round flat-brimmed hat, Chandler commands a four-person team responsible for feeding, caring for and monitoring the ravens.
- 'They're characters' -
Chandler, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan when in the Royal Marines, had no particular interest in birds before arriving at the Tower of London 14 years ago.
"Initially, the draw was the legend of the ravens and then being here seeing them, working amongst them... it was just natural," Chandler said of his career progression.
"I fell in love with the ravens," he added, praising their intelligence.
"They're individuals, they are characters, just like us," he said.
There are seven ravens currently inhabiting the old prison and royal fortress, one more than the number needed to avert disaster, Chandler explained.
Two of the birds, Edgar and Harris, were in no hurry to eat their breakfast of two dead chicks, which Chandler fed to them through the bars of their enclosure, when AFP visited the tower recently.
Their companions -- Poppy, Rex (the latest arrival named in honour of King Charles III), Georgie and Jubilee -- were already outside, wandering among the tourists, which number around three million each year.
And there is Branwen, the seventh, who has refused for several years to sleep with the rest of the flock.
"They're territorial birds. So even if we let them out during the day, they don't go anywhere," he explained.
Even so, several of their feathers are shortened on one wing to prevent them from flying too high.
- 'Serving His Majesty' -
The life expectancy of ravens in the tower is around 20 years, compared with between 10 and 15 in the wild. The oldest raven in the tower lived for 44 years.
The mischievous and sociable birds sometimes scare tourists who do not expect to see them up so close, perched on a staircase or a railing.
"I've seen a raven poking his nose through a carrier bag to steal a cheese straw from a school kids packed lunch," recalled Chandler.
"They are serving His Majesty as much as we in the (king's) bodyguard do," he said, assuring that the current King Charles "does check up on them regularly, as did his mother".
Another momentous duty that the former soldier undertook with fellow warders was to protect the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey following her death in September 2022.
"It was the proudest moment of my life," said the father-of-four, "but you shouldn't tell my wife that!"
P.Serra--PC