Those pesky Regicides

Easter Day, and we’re sitting in my brother’s new flat looking out across the Thames towards the O2. It’s an amazing place, with an astonishing view and they’ve made it look just wonderful. Unfortunately the Thames seems to be the colour of silage this afternoon which makes me wonder why people are quite so desperate to live on it. That said, it’s hugely relaxing to sit here in a gentle breeze, watching the river traffic (and sanitary towels) slowly drifting by. If everything you saw on a daily basis was simply drifting, why on earth would you need to rush around? Living on the A1 isn't quite this idyllic...


We’ve just been to the Mudchute City Farm where we spent a great deal of time with the pigs, who seemed well up for being scratched and patted. I’m a big fan of pigs. I always have been. I’ve never understood why anyone would want to eat such a plainly intelligent creature, although one of them did seem to be troughing on huge quantities of mud. It was wonderful to be out and about today. Spring seems to have arrived, the trees are budding and very slowly things are becoming that fresh lime green colour that will soon fill the world with optimism...

On Wednesday 4th April 1660, Pepys had lunch with Admiral William Penn (who was the father of the man who founded Pennsylvania) and Colonel Thomson (who had a wooden leg.) They brought important news from London. It was now not just a certainty that the King would return, but a “necessity” . Negotiations were taking place as they spoke and the declaration of Breda, where Charles accepted the invitation to return, had already been signed. Thomson and Penn spoke of the King as a sober man, one who would be happy to live quietly whilst, more importantly, Parliament pulled his strings. How wrong this prediction turned out to be! Charles the II lived his life anything but soberly. He had countless mistresses and his illegitimate children were bursting into the double figures. As an extra piece of information, I’ve just been informed by my historian father that Charles II was a phenomenally ugly baby with an enormous head and a top lip which looked like a rock garden! People used to faint in the street when they saw him. Perhaps the Regicides were on to something when they tried to stamp out that particular blood line!!