DID CHARLES BELIEVE HIS OWN SPIN?
Following years in exile, Charles’s return to England was a triumph,
thanks to much hype and a new, carefully crafted imageIn exile, Charles developed a mechanism for coping, in which his natural charm
played a great part. He became adept at making promises that he was unable to
keep. His casual manner made it difficult for his own ministers to guess his
intentions; today’s historians still find him hard to judge.
Beneath his easy facade lay a ruthless streak. Where his father, Charles I, and
his younger brother, James, Duke of York, later James II, were stubborn men of
principle, Charles was a flexible pragmatist. He was almost too intelligent and wary
to give his full commitment to any individual or belief. His priorities were steadfastly
political, thus some contemporaries believed that he was a Catholic from the time
of his exile. But those closest to him saw a man uninterested in dogma, reluctant
to persecute anyone for their beliefs but quite ready to do so if they posed a threat.
He does seem to have believed his spin about becoming the ‘healing king’. While
he envied the absolute power of Louis XIV, he genuinely hoped to work with
parliament to achieve stability.
Yet he had no qualms about sacrificing ministers when the public demanded a
scapegoat, or about arranging a secret treaty with Louis XIV of France to attack
the Dutch Republic. Gradually his policy of access was replaced by greater
remoteness. But he maintained a brilliant balancing act, retaining the image of the
‘merry Monarch’ while pursuing policies in which loyalty to the Stuart family
overrode any wider national interests.
HERITAGE IMAGE PARTNERSHIP LTD/ALAMYfor a Dissenter not to be a Rebel”, and in
1662, convinced of the political threat,
parliament passed the Act of Uniformity
(making the use of the Anglican Book of
Common Prayer compulsory). The Act
drove many Presbyterian ministers and
their followers out of the Church of
England. Soon the harsh legislation of
the Clarendon Code, which prevented
religious meetings outside the church,
meant that those whose consciences
Charles had promised to honour were
instead hunted down as criminals.
Meanwhile, the old hierarchy was
established at court, in the counties and
in the church. To reinforce this, Charles
knew that it was vital that he make himself
visible, to use his physical presence to
charm his subjects. He worked hard to
satisfy the crowds who had welcomed him
in the spirit of the illusory ‘good old days’,
with maypoles and bonfires.
He laid claim to the medieval glamour
of kingship with ceremonies like Touching
for the King’s Evil, where the touch of the
royal hand was held to cure scrofula and
other diseases. As a result, sufferers flocked
to him in their thousands. At the same
time, appealing to the nobles rather than
the mass, he revived institutions such as
the Knights of the Garter.
Fully aware of the power of display,
Charles spared no expenses on his
coronation, held on 23 April 1661,
St George’s Day. The crown of St Edward
and the royal regalia, melted down in the
Commonwealth, were replaced at a costof £12,000. Echoing Elizabethan practice,
Charles also mounted a lavish procession
through the city on Coronation Eve, to
ensure the goodwill of the merchants.
In addition to the grand procession,
Charles worked up his own legend, telling
and retelling the story of his famous escape
from Worcester, emphasising the support
he received from ordinary people but
also implying that he was protected by
‘Providence’, the word employed inPuritan tracts to suggest the directing
hand of God in national affairs.Good looks and virility
To boost his heroic yet human status,
prints and descriptions of the king
focused on Charles’s youth, good looks
and virility. Even before he landed, Samuel
Tu k e ’s A Character of Charles II (16 6 0)
stressed his easy, graceful motions, and
his love of sport and dancing, adding:Restoration and revolution / The people’s prince