Inside the coffin of ExEcuted King, Charles I
The fact that Charles I received a burial at all, let alone one at the royal residence of Windsor, was both lucky and unlikely.
Charles was a shy, uncharismatic man who had made a disastrous king.
Charles I was b-headed on 30th January 1649, outside the Banqueting House in Whitehall.
His embalmed body was put into a coffin and taken to St James’.
His burial at Windsor was held without pomp or ceremony, on 7th February 1649.
Some reports state that the King’s head was reattached to his body on the great table in the Deanery at Windsor, where the coffin briefly stayed after its arrival at Windsor Castle.
Evidence to support this claim, however, is scant.
It was a cold snowy February day, when Charles’ coffin was lowered into the vault which holds the bodies of King Henry VIII and his third queen, Jane Seymour.
Years later the royal family had ‘lost track’ of Charles’ body.
Some thought that his son Charles II may have reburied his body at Westminster Abbey.
However, when construction of a mausoleum at St. George’s Chapel began under George III in 1813, workmen accidentally made an opening in one of the walls of the vault where Henry VIII and Jane Seymour were said to be buried.
Along with Henry and Jane’s coffins, two more could also be seen.
The third coffin was covered with a black velvet cloth.
There was also a very small mahogany coffin covered with crimson velvet, laid upon the cloth covering King Charles.
This contained a child of Queen Anne, still-born when she was Princess of Denmark.
The Prince Regent was told of the discovery, and he sanctioned an examination of the coffin.
This took place on 1st April 1813.
The Prince Regent entered the vault – accompanied by the Duke of Cumberland, Count Munster, the Dean of Windsor, Benjamin Charles Stevenson, and Sir Henry Halford.
The black velvet cloth was removed to reveal a plain lead coffin inscribed with the name of King Charles and the year of his death.
An opening was then made in the lid, and the covering removed from the head.
Sir Henry reported that the long oval- shaped face with a pointed beard, bore a strong resemblance to coins, busts, and the Van Dyck pictures of Charles I.
The head was removed from the coffin to prove that it had been separated by a heavy blow, inflicted with a very sharp instrument – proving beyond doubt that these were indeed the remains of King Charles.
The rest of the body was not examined, and the coffin was soldered up.
Here our story would finish were it not for another partial opening of the vault on the 13th December 1888… and the curious reason this took place.
It appears that in 1813 the Royal Physician, Sir Henry Halford, took with or without permission, certain “relics” from the body of King Charles I.
This included the fourth vertebra, which bore the marks of an axe, as well as a tooth and a portion of his beard.
Halford claimed that after the coffin had been closed, these three items had not been replaced.
The Prince Regent said that it was not worth re‐opening the coffin to replace the items, and handed them to Halford.
In 1888, the ‘relics’ in question made their way into the hands of Albert the Prince of Wales, by a grandson of Sir Henry Halford.
The Prince duly advised the Dean of St. George’s Chapel, that having obtained permission from his mother Queen Victoria, he desired to return these artefacts to the vault.
At 6 pm on the 13th December 1888, Dean Davidson superintended the removal of the inscribed pavement stone above the vault, and six of the black and white marble squares.
The Prince of Wales arrived just after 7pm and performed the task of lowering the box of relics, placing it in the centre of the coffin of King Charles I.
The Prince then departed, and the vault was immediately closed.
All was conducted with the utmost decorum, dignity and reverence.
Another artefact still exists in the Royal Collection which relates to the 1813 exhumation.
A beautiful gold and enamel locket, apparently given by George to his daughter Princess Charlotte.
An inscription confirms that it contains the hair of King Charles I, having been removed from his head in 1813.
Since the last re-opening of the vault in 1888, the remains of Queen Anne’s stillborn child, King Charles I, King Henry VIII, and his Queen Jane Seymour, have remained undisturbed.
May they all rest in peace for eternity.
