When it comes to good luck charms and superstitions, many people around the world have their own unique and timeless traditions to help encourage a healthy dose of good fortune.

For some of us, it can be as simple as not walking under a ladder or crossing your fingers - however, King Charles has a very unique approach to making sure the UK prospers under his reign.

In line with an ancient tradition, King Charles regularly visits the Tower of London for one particularly superstitious reason involving the ravens that live there.

Michael Chandler, the Ravenmaster and Yeoman Warder recently told The Telegraph that the King likes to visit the ravens kept in the Tower, as they are traditionally a sign of good fortune.

Throughout history the birds have played a key role in many cultures around the world, and are highly respected in several for the connotations of good luck they are rumoured to encourage.

The Danes and Vikings once flew banners featuring the black feathered bird in honour of Odin, and houses where they had come to nest were also considered lucky by many.

The mythology also has biblical roots too, with the bird being used as a symbol of God’s providence, an interesting connection, given that royals were once believed to be ‘ordained by god’ in years gone by.

However, not all cultures are so keen to believe in the good fortune the birds are rumoured to bring, with Icelandic folklore even treating them as ominous symbols that can sometimes be harbingers of conflict and death!

A similar pattern also existed in Greek mythology, when ravens were thought to be messengers of the gods - however this didn’t always prove to be a good thing!

In King Charles’ case however, it’s clear that the monarch leans heavily on the belief that the birds bring good fortune - something that his predecessor, King Charles II also shared.

Charles II, who reigned between 1649 and 1651 was the first monarch to request that ravens be kept in the Tower of London, and according to local legend, if the birds ever leave, both the fortress and the kingdom will fall.

Former Marine Michael told the publication: "They [the ravens] are serving His Majesty as much as we in the [King's] bodyguard do." Adding that the King checks up on them regularly, as did his mother.

The order to keen ravens at the tower originally went against the wishes of famed astronomer John Flamsteed, who complained that the ravens would interfere with his work at the White Tower’s observatory.

However, since then the ravens have gone on to find a welcome home in the Tower, which now boasts its very own breeding programme and sees the beloved birds survive on a diet of mice, chicks, rats, and assorted raw meats.