Christopher Skaife (born 18 December 1965) is
Yeoman Warder Ravenmaster at the
Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
. His responsibilities include the care and feeding for the
ravens of the Tower of London
The Ravens of the Tower of London are a group of at least six captive ravens resident at the Tower of London. Their presence is traditionally believed to protect the Crown and the Tower; a superstition holds that "if the Tower of London ravens ...
.
Skaife was born in
Dover
Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...
on 18 December 1965 and joined the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
at the age of 18.
Skaife is a retired
colour sergeant and a former
drum major with the
Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment
The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (or PWRR, also known as 'The Tigers') is the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, second in the line infantry order of precedence to the Royal Regiment of Scotland and part of the Qu ...
.
In 2011, Skaife succeeded Derrick Coyle as Ravenmaster at the Tower of London, where he is responsible for seven ravens.
In 2018, he published ''The Ravenmaster'', which ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' called "a wonderfully personal account of life with the ravens".
Publications
*
References
1965 births
20th-century British Army personnel
21st-century British Army personnel
21st-century British non-fiction writers
Ceremonial officers in the United Kingdom
English male non-fiction writers
English non-fiction writers
Living people
People from Dover, Kent
Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment soldiers
Tower of London
Military personnel from Kent
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