FOCUS: How Charles III's predecessor was first proclaimed King in Jersey

Illustrating the island’s strong Royalist credentials, the Stuart Monarch Charles II was proclaimed King in Jersey in 1649, 11 years before he officially assumed power after the Restoration in 1660.

His father, Charles I, was executed in January 1649 on the orders of the parliamentarian High Court of Justice after it had found him guilty of attempting to “uphold in himself an unlimited and tyrannical power to rule according to his will”.

Afterwards, the parliamentary government decreed that there should be no proclamations of a successor.

However, when news reached Jersey, the Bailiff, Sir George Carteret, ordered that the Viscount, Laurens Hamptonne, proclaim Charles II as king in the normal way.

Pictured: An image of King Charles II, who visited the island twice, when island Loyalists gave him refuge during the English Civil War.

A document was drawn up in French, which was read out in Market Square by Mr Hamptonne, now the Royal Square, on 17 February 1649.

It was later read out at Elizabeth Castle and Mont Orgueil.

It has thus often been said that Charles II’s reign began in Jersey.

Pictured: The 1649 Proclamation of Charles II on display at the Museum. (Jersey Heritage)

What followed was two years of bloody civil war and a period of rule by the Long and Rump parliaments before he would actually be crowned King of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1660.

The future Charles II twice visited Jersey during the English civil war, in 1646 and 1649, both times departing for France to visit his mother, Queen Henrietta.

The Jersey Proclamation of 1649 still exists and is on display at the Jersey Museum as part of its ‘The Story of Jersey’ exhibition.