EeHH.CO.UK

Royal Family: The gruesome souvenir crowds took when the only English King was beheaded in London 

The Royal Family is one of the longest standing institutions in the UK. It has survived scandal, abolition, wars, abdication and has almost a thousand years of history behind it. While some members of the family have been largely forgotten by the history books, others will never fade into obscurity because of what they achieved or caused during their lifetime.

King Charles I is one such monarch whose reputation will never be buried by time owing to his staunch belief in the Divine Right of Kings, the fact that his loss in the Civil War resulted in Oliver Cromwell ceasing control of the country and how he was the only English King to have been beheaded.

It was at The King's execution outside Banqueting House in Whitehall on January 30, 1649 that the huge crowds decided to take a very rare and gruesome souvenir home with them.

King Charles I was born in Scotland on November 19, 1600 to King James VI of Scotland and I of England and Anne of Denmark.

He married Princess Henrietta Maria of France and had nine children. While King Charles I was the first English monarch to be overthrown, other Kings had been deposed before him, such as King Richard II.

An already very unpopular Charles I and his Roundheads were defeated during the English Civil War in 1645 by the Parliamentarians (Puritans), led by Oliver Cromwell.

He was imprisoned by Cromwell, put on trial and later beheaded outside the Palace of Whitehall in London on 30 January 1649. 

charles© 2013 Culture Club

On the morning of his execution, he wore two shirts to reduce the chance of any shivers being mistaken fear. He was reported to have said: "the season is so sharp as probably may make me shake, which some observers may imagine proceeds from fear. I would have no such imputation."

The executioner was disguised and did not shout the normal phrase "behold the head of a traitor" when he held The King's severed held up to the crowd so that he could not be identified by his voice.

Disgustingly, once the King’s head was removed, the crowd dipped their handkerchiefs in his blood as a memento. His head was then sewn back on and he was embalmed.

Following Charles I’s execution, the monarchy was abolished and the country was governed by Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell’s son, Richard, served in the role of Lord Protector.

King Charles I’s son, the future King Charles II, had been living in exile in France and the Netherlands for several years but was invited to return to restore the Monarchy following the dissolve of the Long Parliament and fears that the country would fall into anarchy.

While Charles II was welcomed back, his reign was equally as unlucky as his father’s as both the Great Plague in 1665 and the Great Fire of London in 1666 took place during his rule. He also failed to produce a legitimate heir to the throne which meant his unpopular brother became King James II.