Britain’s swans get new owner with royal succession

WINDSOR, Sept 12 (Reuters) – Swans swimming alongside the bends of the River Thames and delighting guests on riverbanks throughout Britain have a brand new proprietor.

On the loss of life of his mom Queen Elizabeth, Britain’s new monarch King Charles has inherited lots of the nation’s swans.

“The king has the precise to say any swan swimming in open waters, unmarked, if he so needs,” David Barber, who labored for Queen Elizabeth for some 30 years as her swan marker, advised Reuters on Monday.

“Not all of the swans belong to the king. But when he needs to say them, he can, by the royal prerogative,” mentioned Barber, now the king’s swan marker. He declined to estimate the variety of swans owned by the monarch.

The possession of the swans dates again to medieval occasions, when the birds have been thought of a delicacy.

“Swans then have been a particularly necessary meals supply and served up at banquets and feasts, actually for the rich,” mentioned Barber.

“As time went on, totally different individuals owned swans. The crown gave them the precise to personal them. And so they had the younger cygnets and they’d fatten them up for the Christmas feasts. In fact, at the moment swans are not eaten, and it is all a conservation and schooling train,” mentioned Barber.

The monarch shares possession of the elegant white mute swans with historical commerce associations, whose swans have their very own marks.

Over his 30 years because the monarch’s swan marker, Barber met the Queen a number of occasions at public and unofficial occasions.

Barber, who wears a scarlet coat and a swan feather in his hat, was personally introduced with the Royal Victorian Order by the Queen in 2014.

“She was a really, very beautiful individual. You could possibly get on together with her very effectively. And she or he took a grand curiosity in all wildlife however swans as effectively,” he mentioned.

He mentioned he hoped Charles would observe go well with.

“He is very eager on conservation and all any such factor, which is completely good for us as effectively. So hopefully he’ll take a pleasant curiosity within the swan inhabitants. That can assist us do our job.”

Reporting by Hanna Rantala, Modifying by Rosalba O’Brien

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