Time Travel Back To 17th Century London - With This Royalist Reenactment Along The Mall

By Will Noble

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Last Updated 21 January 2026

Will Noble Time Travel Back To 17th Century London - With This Royalist Reenactment Along The Mall

the King's Army parade down the Mall in funeral costume — This is the 54th time that The King's Army commemorate the execution of Charles I.

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.

Grinning 17th Century soldiers on the Mall — Some of the proclamations of loyalty to Charles may sound strange, now we have a King Charles again.

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 25 January 2026, they return for their 54th parade.

A parade of reenactors - with Horseguards and the London Eye in the background — Wherever your own monarchist loyalties lie, this is a chance to experience a touch of time travel in central London.

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.

a 17th century print showing the execution of the kind on a platform outside banqueting house, surrounded by onlookers — A (somewhat gruesome) contemporary German print of the execution of Charles I outside Banqueting House. Image: public domain.

The reenactment group forms near St James's Palace, on the Mall in period funeral dress at 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 at which the axe fell on Charles' neck.)

At around 12.30pm, a wreath which 'Remembers His Majesty's Horrid Murder' is taken through Horse Guards Arch and laid at nearby Banqueting House.

Funeral dress is removed, before the soldiers retrace their route back to St James's Palace — drums beating and colours flying.

A mother and child in 17th century dress — The procession isn't just soldiers, either.

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.

A group of royalists in 17th century costumes raise their pikes in central London — On 25 January, central London time travels back to 1649.

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 usually starts on the Mall at 11.30am (though arrive a little earlier to see it assemble), Sunday 25 January 2026. 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."