Remembering a king who lost his head

Associated media

This January, Historic Royal Palaces, the independent charity that cares for the Banqueting House on Whitehall, invites visitors to view a new permanent display about the execution of Charles I.

The display, which will be installed in time for the anniversary of Charles’ execution on 30 January 2013, will lead visitors close to the spot where he stepped out onto the specially constructed scaffold and met his untimely death. Through a series of interpretations, the display will tell the story of the events leading up to the King’s execution, which visitors will be able to read as they climb the stairs to the main hall. These events not only led to Charles’ death, but also culminated in civil war, political unrest and, ultimately, the temporary abolition of the British monarchy and the birth of the Commonwealth of England. Underneath the magnificent full-length portrait of Charles I by Daniel Mytens, a dramatic film will show a reconstruction of the final few hours of the man who fought tirelessly for the divine right of Kings as he bade farewell to his children and burned his personal papers in preparation for death.

As visitors follow the new display up the grand stairs, watch the emotive film, and gaze up at this opulent ceiling on the anniversary of his death, they are thrust into the past, an age of decadence, royalty and revolution.

Following nine years of civil war, Charles I eventually surrendered and in January 1649 was put on trial by his enemies for tyranny and treason, the verdict was guilty, the sentence – death. ‘By the severing of his head from his body’, Charles’s fate was decided. As he stepped out of a window, on the 30 January 1649, and onto the scaffold outside Banqueting House, he announced ‘I go from a corruptible, to an incorruptible Crown; where no disturbance can be’. As the axe fell, ‘a groan as I never heard before, and desire I may never hear again’ went up from the crowd watching the unimaginable event – the killing of the Lord’s anointed sovereign. This realization, and the dignity with which the King conducted himself, created a great wave of emotion for the dead monarch. Charles I was recognized as a martyr and 30 January is remembered as Charles the Martyr day.

The Banqueting House is the only remaining complete building of Whitehall Palace, the sovereign’s principal residence until 1698 when it was destroyed by fire. Designed by Indigo Jones for James I, the Banqueting House was originally built for occasions of state, plays and masques. The magnificent ceiling paintings by Sir Peter Paul Rubens were commissioned by Charles to celebrate his father’s life, wise government and the divine right of Kings. Ironic, therefore, that Charles would have walked underneath this ceiling moments before his execution.

Entrance to this new permanent display is included in the palace’s admission price.