Per the Tower of London website, the ravens enjoy biscuits soaked in blood as a special treat. The ravenmaster feeds the black birds twice a day with a special diet of mice, chicks, rats and assorted meats. According to the Post, the hand-raised corvids have free roam of the castle, though they sleep in secure quarters at night to protect them from harm. “The first recorded reference to the legend dates to this period,” the author writes.Ī post shared by Chris Skaife the tradition started, the Tower’s ravens receive the highest quality of care. While Charles II often receives credit for the ominous prediction, Theobald argues that the story actually sprung up as a response to the bombing of London during World War II.
The other four choices were Matilda, a nod to the medieval English empress of the same name Brontë, in honor of the legendary literary siblings Winifred, after Winifred Maxwell, Countess of Nithsdale and Florence, in honor of trailblazing British nurse Florence Nightingale.Ī ravenmaster has cared for the Tower’s semi-wild birds since the 1950s, explains John Owen Theobald, author of the Ravenmastertrilogy of novels, for Historic U.K. Per a statement, the public selected Branwen, a Celtic word that translates to “blessed raven,” out of five shortlisted names. At least six birds are kept at the site at all times to prevent such a disaster. She’s all that and more.”Īccording to legend, Britain is secure as long as ravens remain at the Tower, a 1,000-year-old fortress and castle on the banks of the River Thames.Ĭharles II (1630–1685) was reportedly the first monarch to claim that “the Tower itself will crumble to dust and a great harm will befall the kingdom” if anything happens to the ravens, as William Booth wrote for the Washington Postin 2018. “Branwen was the queen of ravens, the queen of white ravens, the queen of beauty and love. “This is absolutely brilliant,” said Ravenmaster Chris Skaife during the program, as quoted by Shannon Julia of the Mirror. By popular vote, the British people chose Branwen, the name of a deity from Celtic mythology, as the new protector of the empire. On May 19, BBC Breakfast unveiled the name of the Tower of London’s newest royal raven before a national audience. To the fanfare of trumpets, England learned the good news: The kingdom is safe and secure.
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