Charles the First, Second and Third!

Dear Juliet

As you know, King Charles III has come a-calling but I don't want to put a downer on your day by going on about politics. Particularly at the moment. So I thought I'd explain about Kings Charles the First and Second; and about Britain's own revolution.

And how Shropshire fitted into it!

In a word, Charles I (1600-1649) believed in the divine right of kings and basically wouldn't obey the English and Scottish Parliaments. He even fought against them during the English Civil War, was convicted of high treason and beheaded in 1649.

England briefly turned into a Commonwealth or republic and Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector or head of state. However, the Stuart Restoration took place in 1660, returning Charles II (1630-1685) to the throne.

Before that, though, Charles II had had literally to run for his life, hiding out at Boscobel House in Shropshire and then in an oak tree to avoid Parliamentary soldiers. The oak tree, called the Royal Oak, did not last past the 18th century but a "daughter tree" still exists on the same site, about six miles from Shifnal.

I went there with Mum in 2014, just after I gave a talk about Dear Miss Landau at Shifnal library on her birthday. She always had low self-esteem, so I hoped that might bolster her sense of self-worth. The local media didn't show any further interest so, with time to kill, we went to see the daughter tree.

I thought I'd just mention all this because it's sometimes forgotten there was an English Revolution before the American one, and our history was neither stable nor peaceful. There was lots of gratuitous sex and violence, and then I suppose we exported it...

Anyway, there was no King Charles between 1685-2022, but the UK is now in the Carolean Era as opposed to the Second Elizabethan Era.

So I think that's about where we are now, and as I write the King is about to visit the White House and address Congress.

Actually, I was in the same room as then-Prince Charles once, about 1979 I think. Also saw Stanford Tuck, a Battle of Britain fighter pilot. History in the flesh...

Well, I hope all this is of interest. I remembered you like history.

Okay, I may be out tomorrow afternoon and my blog post could be a little late. Please don't think I'm forgetting you in any way or getting careless, you mean a lot to me.

Love,

James


































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