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 {{UK-nonfiction-writer-stub