King Charles' bizarre State Opening of Parliament traditions (2024)

FAQs

What did Charles do in 1646 that made him unpopular with Parliament? ›

In May 1646, Charles placed himself in the hands of the Scottish Army (who handed him to the English Parliament after nine months in return for arrears of payment - the Scots had failed to win Charles's support for establishing Presbyterianism in England).

Parliament dissolved

Charles I was furious and dissolved the Parliament that very same day. He did not call another one for 11 years, making clear his distaste for dealing with Parliament and his belief that the royal prerogative allowed him to rule and to raise money without it.

The King's Speech is a speech written by the government and delivered by the Monarch at the State Opening of Parliament. It marks the beginning of a new parliamentary year, or session, and is an opportunity for the government to set out its legislative agenda for the coming months.

In January 1642, Charles went into the Houses of Parliament to try and arrest 5 MPs, but they had been warned of his arrival and escaped on the River Thames. In August 1642, Charles grew tired of Parliament's demands and raised his standard. at Nottingham, to declare war on Parliament.

From the beginning of his reign, Charles I demonstrated a distrust of the House of Commons. Parliament was critical of his government, condemning his policies of arbitrary taxation and imprisonment. On several occasions, Charles I dissolved Parliament without its consent.

Outwardly, this was a period of peace and prosperity, but Charles I was slowly building up opposition against him among segments of the political elite by his financial and religious policies. Many people were outraged by what they regarded as his non-parliamentary use of medieval laws to raise money.

His religious policies, coupled with his marriage to a Roman Catholic, generated antipathy and mistrust from Reformed religious groups such as the English Puritans and Scottish Covenanters, who thought his views too Catholic.

You might expect anyone with the title of King to be very well spoken with an RP accent, but actually, a great many of them had accents from all over Europe and Charles and the rest of the Stuart clan were no exception. Charles and his father, James, were born in Scotland and so naturally had a Scottish accent.

One of the most unpopular kings in English history, Charles I, is remembered as a bad king, but lots of people in England thought he should stay king. About 400 years ago, his decisions led to the English Civil War, and eventually to Charles' death.

But it is telling a true story, of how King George VI had a quite crippling stammer that would make a nightmare of all the public appearances involved in being King, and of how the loving support of his wife, the mother of the present Queen, and the work of an Australian speech therapist, Lionel Logue, enabled him to ...

What did Elizabeth think of the Kings speech? ›

The Queen is said to have thoroughly approved of it, but remarked “my only criticism is that I never heard my Father swear”. The Hon Margaret Rhodes (The Queen's cousin) said she cried “quite a lot” when she saw the film The King's Speech. “He was such a wonderfully attractive person.

divine right of kings, in European history, a political doctrine in defense of monarchical absolutism, which asserted that kings derived their authority from God and could not therefore be held accountable for their actions by any earthly authority such as a parliament.

Having executed Charles I in 1649, Parliament abolished the monarchy and formed a republic under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell.

On 15 June, Charles I dissolved the parliament of 1626 before it had voted him any significant new money in order to prevent Buckingham being impeached. When asked by a group of Peers to delay the dissolution, Charles replied “not by a second”.

From 1649 to 1660, England was therefore a republic during a period known as the Interregnum ('between reigns'). A series of political experiments followed, as the country's rulers tried to redefine and establish a workable constitution without a monarchy.

In 1629 Charles became so annoyed with Parliament's refusal to listen to him and do what he wanted that he ordered all MPs to go home. Parliament would not meet again for 11 years. When he first became king one of Charles I's most trusted advisors was the Duke of Buckingham, who he put in charge of the army and navy.

At the centre of the conflict were disagreements about religion, and discontent over the king's use of power and his economic policies.

June 20 – Third Siege of Oxford concludes with signing of the surrender of the Royalist garrison at Oxford to General Thomas Fairfax's Parliamentary New Model Army; on the 24th of June the main force marches out, ending the First English Civil War.

Charles I ruled his kingdom without calling Parliament from 1629-40. During this period, called the Personal Rule, he brought in many changes. These included range of new customs duties which usually had to be approved by Parliament. As result, Charles managed to increase his income from £600,000 to £900,000 per year.