King Charles has declined an invitation to attend this year’s annual commemoration of King Charles I at the Banqueting House in Whitehall, a tradition observed by the Society of King Charles the Martyr, according to reports.
The event, which marks the anniversary of the 1649 execution of Charles I, usually involves a service and act of remembrance at the historic Banqueting House.
This is the site where the monarch was beheaded following his trial during the English Civil War.
The King’s reported decision comes amid a packed schedule of official duties and patronages.
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However, insiders told the Mail that he has politely declined both the invitation to the annual commemoration and a suggestion that he might serve as joint patron of the society alongside his second cousin, Lord Nicholas Windsor.
The Society of King Charles the Martyr is an Anglo-Catholic devotional organisation founded in 1894.
It honours Charles I as “King and Martyr” — a title given in the Church of England calendar in recognition of his steadfast defence of episcopacy, the church’s traditional governance structure.
The annual commemoration falls on or around January 30, the date on which Charles I was executed in 1649.
King Charles ‘declines’ Charles I commemoration invite despite cousin link
|GETTY
On that day, after a trial determined by Parliamentarians, Charles was led to a scaffold erected in front of the Banqueting House on Whitehall and beheaded.
The event marked a dramatic phase in the English Civil War and the temporary abolition of the monarchy.
Although the King will not attend the formal service, sources say he could choose to pay private respects to the King whose death has long held a place in the nation’s historical memory.
The Royal Collection holds several relics connected to Charles I, including a lock of his hair and vertebrae reportedly marked by the execution axe — items that were later reinterred in his coffin on the orders of Edward VII.
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A portrait of King Charles I, created in the late 1630s
|GETTY
The commemoration attracts interest from history enthusiasts and monarchists alike.
In recent years, parallel ceremonies have taken place, including a march along The Mall by members of the English Civil War Society known as The King’s Army.
The group retraces the route taken by Charles I to the scaffold, holding a drumhead service and wreath-laying before returning in procession.
Lord Nicholas Windsor with his family members at the funeral of his mother, the Duchess of Kent
| REUTERSThe society’s annual observance remains a niche event within the broader calendar of commemorations marking the nation’s turbulent seventeenth-century history.
However, it continues to draw attention because of its ceremonial links to Britain’s constitutional past.