ANNUAL MARCH IN COMMEMORATION OF CHARLES I
MARTYRED 30TH JANUARY 1649
MARTYRED 30TH JANUARY 1649
On Sunday 27th January 2019 several hundred members of the King’s Army of the English Civil War Society will march in the footsteps of King Charles I in commemoration of ‘His Majestie’s Horrid Murder’ at the hands of the Parliament in 1649.
The soldiers of this modern recreation of a Royalist Army of the English Civil Wars are all volunteers and will be clothed and equipped in the same manner as their forebears were 375 years ago. Should the weather turn to snow, as it did then, no doubt some of them will also be following the King’s example and be wearing two shirts so as not to be seen to shiver with the cold.
The March will commence on the Mall outside St James’ Palace at 11.25am, proceed down the Mall and assemble on Horse Guards where a religious drumhead service is held, a colour is trooped and blessed, the Oath of Loyalty is administered and awards and commissions are presented. The wreath, which ‘Remembers’ His Majestie’s horrid murder, is then trooped round the whole army before being taken, around 12.20, by the honour guard through Horse Guards Arch and across to the Banqueting House and laid where the Horrid deed was carried out.
Another wreath will already have been laid at 10.30am at the base of the equestrian statute of Charles I at the top end of Whitehall in Trafalgar Square.
The King’s Army spends the summer months re-enacting historical events of the seventeenth century with The Roundhead Association at venues throughout the country. The English Civil War Society also undertakes numerous educational activities and conducts historical research into the life and times of the seventeenth century.
The soldiers of this modern recreation of a Royalist Army of the English Civil Wars are all volunteers and will be clothed and equipped in the same manner as their forebears were 375 years ago. Should the weather turn to snow, as it did then, no doubt some of them will also be following the King’s example and be wearing two shirts so as not to be seen to shiver with the cold.
The March will commence on the Mall outside St James’ Palace at 11.25am, proceed down the Mall and assemble on Horse Guards where a religious drumhead service is held, a colour is trooped and blessed, the Oath of Loyalty is administered and awards and commissions are presented. The wreath, which ‘Remembers’ His Majestie’s horrid murder, is then trooped round the whole army before being taken, around 12.20, by the honour guard through Horse Guards Arch and across to the Banqueting House and laid where the Horrid deed was carried out.
Another wreath will already have been laid at 10.30am at the base of the equestrian statute of Charles I at the top end of Whitehall in Trafalgar Square.
The King’s Army spends the summer months re-enacting historical events of the seventeenth century with The Roundhead Association at venues throughout the country. The English Civil War Society also undertakes numerous educational activities and conducts historical research into the life and times of the seventeenth century.