Beaming Beefeater

Perhaps one of the Tower of London’s more fortunate residents, Heather Miller says modern life at the historic castle is less about blood and bones but still exciting. She did get fed up with seeing the Crown jewels though.

In 2005, Miller’s husband Robin was chosen to become a Yeoman Warder, a ceremonial guard for the ancient Royal Palace and Fortress, and more colloquially known as a Beefeater.

“He came home and said ‘you know how I always promised you a palace, sweetheart?’” she laughs.

So Miller and her family moved inside the Tower of London.

Today, Miller lives on an acreage a few miles down the road from Villeneuve. Instead of chasing tourists from her doorstep, she now looks at a group of nosy deer in the morning.

She offers to talk of her life at the Tower as a guest speaker for $75 an hour, her stories speckled with British humour, historical facts and still a certain sense of wonder.

“It’s a very humbling experience, really humbling,” she says.

“There is just something about sitting on a bench at night and looking at the white tower and saying ‘wow, the things that this has seen.’”

Born and raised in Great Britain, Heather and Robin Miller met early in their lives. He joined the British military; she moved up the ranks in the civil service.

The Yeomen Warders provide a ceremonial guard for the ancient Royal Palace and Fortress. In principle, they are responsible for looking after any prisoners in the Tower and safeguarding the British Crown jewels, though they now often act as tour guides.

All Yeoman Warders are retired from the Armed Forces of the Commonwealth and must be former senior officers with at least 22 years of service.

They must also hold the Long Service and Good Conduct medal and be at least 40 years of age. Robin, however, was accepted at 39 years of age, making him the youngest Beefeater ever having served at the Tower.

“He was also the only vegetarian one,” Miller says.

Having moved from the county of Hampshire in the south of England, the family took some time getting used to their new living arrangements, Miller says.

Families of the warders either live in one of the 22 towers or the outer walls. One of their friends was housed in the former casemates and had to leave their home and cross a walkway to get to one of their bedrooms.

Her own living quarters, located in the old hospital block built in 1649, were still haunted by ghosts, Miller says.

Her 17-year-old daughter would feel herself getting tucked in at night and Miller’s left knee was always uncovered at night – perhaps by a former doctor or nurse, she says.

“The first couple of times I thought it was the dogs but later we stayed up and saw it being uncovered,” she says.

The ghosts were not the only perks that came with life at the Tower.

Miller says they always had front-row seats at concerts at the Tower and met many celebrities – such as Annie Lennox, Rob Lowe, Paul McCartney and Randy Newman – while they were strolling around the Tower grounds.

However, when they saw the Royal princes, they knew to ignore them.

“You don’t make a big thing about it; you don’t acknowledge them. Which may seem really rude but if you got lots and lots of people around, imagine all the ‘oh, look at the princes,’” she says.

People never believed where she lived, she says and ordering take-out dinner with a made up postal code was more than difficult. Tourists often followed her home, thinking her front gate was an open invitation to exploring the Tower’s hidden treasures.

“They don’t believe you at first because when you say it you don’t believe it yourself. It’s as if you told somebody you live in the Royal palace,” she says.

“It’s a great location for restaurants though,” she laughs.

The family received their papers to emigrate to Canada two years after Robin started his new position. Though they enjoyed their time at the Tower, Miller says they wanted to move to Canada for its politeness, space and regular seasons.

“We lived all over the world and every time we went back to the UK we liked it less and less,” she says.

“It’s the size of Nova Scotia but with 72 million people and that’s a little crammed.”

Robin first retired but it drove him crazy, so Miller retired instead. Robin joined the Canadian Forces, which made him the first warder to ever return to service, Miller says.

First stationed in Nova Scotia, they later moved to Alberta where they found a permanent home. Looking across the rolling hills and forests surrounding her acreage, Miller says she would never move back.

“That’s the only thing. You can’t believe that you live there and then at the same time being locked in all the time, after a while it does get almost claustrophobic,” she says.

“You want to break out even though you are not a prisoner.”

Heather Miller can be reached for bookings through her website www.mylifeatthetoweroflondon.com or contacted at her e-mail at [email protected]. Her fees are waived for chats with schools, youth groups and charity events.