We went to London on a day trip on a Sunday and, just by chance, we ended up a few minutes before the parade for Charles I commemorations took place. We were very lucky.
Charles I was executed on 30 January 1649. For the next decade Oliver Cromwell managed to make life miserable for everyone, thus, after his death, Charles II was asked to become king. Charles II is known as the merry monarch.
I was impressed by the costumes of the actors participating in the re-enactment. A person watching the procession asked us if we know what is about and we said Charles I. He said that it is a shame Charles did not win the civil war, a sentiment I whole heartedly agree with. So much so, that when an actor on crowd control duties mentioned that Charles I was bad, I disagreed with him. His reply was ‘Oliver Cromwell was not as bad as he is portrayed”, to which I quickly replied that this is “roundhead propaganda”. Funny, but also true. The argument that someone is “not as bad” does not have the definitive ring one expects. The others in hearing distance were laughing at our exchange.
Enjoy the pictures, starting with the horses which took part. It was lovely to see them and interact a bit. Their personalities were so different, one curious but not wanting to interact, while the other was happy to be petted on the head.
This looks terrific and a fun day, Anca! I hope we see something as unique when we’re there this spring!
What a treat to stumble across something like this. It sounds like you had a great time. Fantastic photos! x
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What a fun and interesting collection of photos. There are some pretty serious looking weapons there! (pikes?) Were the people with the dog part of the festivities or just bystanders dressed for the occasion?
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They were part of the festivities, but they left the dog with someone else while they were in procession.
The weapons, as far as I know, are accurate replicas. I know someone who was doing chain mail and she was doing it as it was done in the medieval period: heavy, hard work, took months to finish one.