Good Times - Condor Magazine Spring/Summer 2023

JERSEY
FIT FOR
A KING
The Channel Islands enjoy a special relationship with the British
monarchy, as the place where King Charles II sought exile in 1649.
Today, some 370+ years later, plans for Coronation celebrations
are underway to mark King Charles III’s ascension to the throne.
As the 62nd monarch of Britain
over a period of approximately
1200 years, Charles III will
officially be crowned at Westminster Abbey on
Saturday, May 6th, 2023. To reflect the special
relationship that Guernsey and Jersey have with
the Crown, each part of the Channel Islands
has added an extra public holiday to celebrate.
It will be a weekend of pageantry and parties,
as the Coronation coincides with the 78th
anniversary of Liberation Day. It promises to be
a jubilant, epic four-day weekend.
As a cluster of isles in mere spitting distance
from mainland France, the Channel Islands has
often played an outsized role in British history.
After the execution of Charles I, at Whitehall
in 1649, by Oliver Cromwell’s parliamentarians
during the English Civil War, it was Jersey that
offered sanctuary on two occasions to King
Charles II. Indeed, Charles II was proclaimed
King of England on the Island in St Helier’s Royal
Square. Charles II’s son, James, later granted
the Island’s governor, George De Carteret, a vast
tract of land in North America which was named
as the state of New Jersey in honour.
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