THE Tower of London ravens will have the most important job of King Charles’ coronation it has been claimed – guarding the fortress to stop a sinister omen from coming true.
Legend has it that the monarchy will crumble and the Kingdom will fall if the ravens leave the Tower.
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Thankfully, a spokesperson for the Tower assured The Sun that the ravens would be in place for the Coronation.
“The ravens have absolutely no role whatsoever in the Coronation ceremony,” the spokesperson said.
“They need to stay at the Tower to protect the Kingdom.
“They’ll be doing their most important job – guarding the Tower of London so the Kingdom doesn’t fall.”
King Charles’s coronation will take place on Saturday, May 6, 2023.
The last King Charles – Charles II – is believed to have been the first monarch to insist that the ravens be protected after he was warned that the crown and the Tower itself would fall if they left during his reign between 1649 and 1651.
Since then at least six ravens have been kept at the Tower, looked after by the Ravenmaster, to ensure the bizarre prophecy does not come true.
The names of the current ravens are Jubilee, Harris, Poppy, Georgie, Edgar and Branwen.
They are currently being kept in isolation for their own safety due to the recent avian flu outbreak, according to the Tower of London website.
Their enclosures have been enlarged so they can stretch their wings and socialise with each other.
The ravens are fed twice a day by the Ravenmaster and eat mice, chicks, rats and assorted raw meats. They are also given biscuits soaked in blood as a special treat.
The pecking order
THE presence of ravens at the Tower of London has for centuries been linked to the very preservation of Britain.
Six are always kept there and legend has it that the Crown, the kingdom and the Tower itself will fall if they ever leave.
In the times of Henry VIII, the birds are said to have sat eerily silent on the battlements in 1536 while Anne Boleyn was beheaded.
The ravens used to peck the eyes of executed prisoners, it is claimed.
In the 1600s, King Charles II’s astronomer, John Flamsteed, complained the birds’ chattering put him off his work.
When the king ordered that they be destroyed — he was allegedly warned that dire luck would follow for the Crown and country.
Instead, he instructed they be fed and sheltered forever.
Despite the impressive tales, some historians believe the “Tower’s raven mythology is likely to be a Victorian flight of fantasy”.
It is thought they were the first pets kept by Beefeaters. There was a craze for ravens after an 1845 Edgar Allen Poe poem.
Ian Brown of rock band The Stone Roses once told Melody Maker: “We’re all anti-royalist, anti-patriarch, cos its 1989, time to get real!
“When the ravens leave the Tower, England shall fall they say.
“We want to be there shooting the ravens.”
During lockdown The Sun launched a campaign to save the ravens – and the country – by encouraging people to visit them.
A lack of tourists meant the six birds were becoming bored and were straying beyond the Tower walls.
Ravenmaster Christopher Skaife said at the time: “If the ravens were to leave, the Tower would crumble to dust.
“The Tower is only the Tower when the people are here.
“The ravens have always been so important to the Tower because they’ve been surrounded by myths and legends.
“We really need people to come back to help the ravens.”
