30 January marks a grim date in the annals of London history.
On this day in 1649, King Charles I was led from St James's Palace to Banqueting House on Whitehall, in front of which he was beheaded, thus drawing a gory line under the English Civil War.
For the past half century, The King's Army, a royalist branch of the English Civil War Society, has commemorated what they call "His Majestie's horrid murder", and on Sunday 26 January 2025, they return for their 53rd parade.
The full-costumed march* — think scores of volunteers in royalist costumes, mounted troops and weapons — traces the short final journey of the King, as he was escorted to the scaffold.
The reenactment group forms near St James's Palace, on the Mall in period funeral dress at around 11.15am. At 11.30am, they proceed to Horse Guards Parade where a commemorative 'drumhead' service is held, a colour is trooped and blessed, the Oath of Loyalty is administered and awards and commissions are presented. (It's a well-known, if disputed, piece of London trivia that a black mark at 2pm on the clock above Horse Guards signifies the time that the axe fell on Charles' neck.)
Then, around, 12.30pm, a wreath which reads 'Remembers His Majesty's Horrid Murder' is laid at nearby Banqueting House.
Interestingly, you'll never hear any mention of the word 'execution' among the King's Army, because that suggests a legal act, which they believe the beheading of Charles I was not.
Wherever your own monarchist loyalties lie, this is a chance to experience a touch of time travel in central London. And if you really are a dyed in the wool republican, you can always feast on a calve's head [sic] instead.
March in Commemoration of Charles I, starts on the Mall at 11.30am (though arrive a little earlier to see it assemble), Sunday 26 January 2025. It's free, just turn up.
*"Should the weather turn to snow, as it did then," says the website, "some of [the re-enactors] may follow the King's example and wear two shirts so as not to be seen to shiver with the cold."
