CHARLES II's CURSED REIGN

How the Great Fire and killer plague tormented the return of the Stuarts

- Derek Wilson

After 338 years, another Charles is on the throne in England, so what better time to reflect on the reign of Charles II? The man who returned from exile in May 1660 to assume the reins of power after the failure of a republican coup was four days short of his 30th birthday when he landed at Dover. Up to that point his life had been a succession of – to say the least – unfortunate experiences.

The second son of Charles I, he unexpectedly became heir to the throne at the age of 12, after the death of his elder brother. As the reality of his inheritance began to dawn upon him, he became aware that it was likely to be a very troubled birthright. Later that same year the series of conflicts known as the English Civil War broke out. Parliament, determined to reduce the power of the monarch, took up arms against the king. Hostilities raged back and forth across much of the country and involved horrendous loss of life.

In his mid-teens, the prince and his siblings were moved from refuge to refuge for their safety. But this was not the only cause of the young man’s insecurity. He was torn between his father’s determination that his heir should remain under the tutelage of the king’s council and his French mother’s wish to whisk him across the Channel for his safety. Eventually Queen Henrietta Maria prevailed.

In June 1646 the royal children sailed for France. There Charles lived in a kind of never-never land, enjoying the charitable hospitality of the infant Louis XIV’s government but unable to make any plans for his own future. In February 1649 he received the appalling news that Charles I had been put on trial by his subjects, found guilty of treason against the people and publicly beheaded.