Charles, prince of Wales, was aware from an early age of his father Charles I's difficulties in dealing with Parliament. On 23 October 1642, only 12 years old, he accompanied the king to the Battle of Edgehill, the first engagement of the English Civil Wars, and participated in a number of others thereafter. However, fearing for his safety, the king ordered him to go to France.
In 1649, Prince Charles tried in vain to save his father's life by sending Parliament a piece of paper, blank save for his signature at the bottom, thus granting any terms that they might request. He was ignored, and on 30 January 1649, Charles I was executed. His son was waiting for news in France. When a courtier arrived, bowed and addressed him as 'Your Majesty', the 18-year-old promptly burst into tears.
Two days after the execution, the Scottish Parliament proclaimed Charles II king and presented him with an offer: renounce your father's Catholic leanings, embrace Presbyterianism, and we will supply an army to restore you to your English throne and impose Presbyterianism throughout England and Scotland. It was a bitter pill for Charles, but after 18 months of negotiation, he acceded to their demands. In June 1650, a Charles Stuart once more rode at the head of an army on British soil.
It all came to nothing: on 3 September 1651, Charles was defeated at the Battle of Worcester and was forced to flee for the Continent, where he spent some nine years exiled in virtual penury. While Oliver Cromwell lived, the future looked bleak for the king without a country, but then 'God's Englishman' died, seven years to the day after Worcester. His weak son Richard succeeded him, but lasted only seven months in office, before the army took over in England and near-chaos reigned.
In Scotland, George Monck, who had fought for Charles I and then Cromwell, felt personal loyalty to the exiled king. As events in London verged on constitutional anarchy, he moved his army south to seize control of London and ordered new elections for Parliament. He also negotiated with the army to get them to accept the idea of restoring Charles II to the throne.
The king began corresponding secretly with Monck. The latter demanded payment of the army's arrears in an attempt to buy off the most powerful obstacle to the return of the House of Stuart. At a crucial moment in the debate, Charles made a savvy intervention: the Declaration of Breda – both a manifesto for his restoration and a blue print for a comprehensive settlement. It appeared that the genie of the royal supremacy, with its fatal harnessing of politics and religion, had been exorcised at last.
On 1 May 1660, Parliament declared that the government should be by king, Lords and Commons, and a week later, Charles was proclaimed king by both houses. His coronation was held in Westminster Abbey on 23 April 1661. It was almost as though the civil wars, the republic and the protectorate had never been.
To be continued
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 Charles II
www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/c
harles_ii_king.shtml
Biography of Charles II on the BBC History website.
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Restoration: Charles II and his Kingdoms, 1660-1685 by Tim Harris (Allen Lane, 2005)
Traces the fate of the monarchy from Charles II's triumphant accession in 1660 to the growing discontent of the 1680s. Harris looks beyond the popular image of Restoration England revelling under a merry monarch and reconstructs the human tragedy of Restoration politics where people were brutalised, hounded and exploited.
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 Boscobel House
On minor road between the A41 and the A5, 8 miles north-west of Wolverhampton, 5 minutes from junction 3 on the M54
OS reference SJ 837083
Tel: 01902 850 244
Website: www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/
show/conProperty.331
Now owned by English Heritage, Boscobel House was built in about 1632. According to tradition, it was intended to serve as a secret place for Catholics to shelter in time of need. After his defeat at Worcester, Charles II was forced to flee for his life and initially set out to cross the River Severn into Wales, but found his way blocked by Cromwell's patrols. He sought refuge at Boscobel, first hiding in what is now known as the Royal Oak and then spending the night in a priest-hole in the attic. He then escaped to France.
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