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The Royal Oak is the name given to the oak tree within which King Charles II of England hid to escape the Roundheads following the Battle of Worcester in 1651.
History
After the defeat of Charles's Royalist army at the hands of Cromwell's New Model Army, the King fled with Lord Derby, Lord Wilmot and other royalists, seeking shelter at the safe houses of Whiteladies Priory and Boscobel House.
The King was among those sheltered at Boscobel House, where he was disguised as a woodman by the owners of the property, Charles Giffard and the Pendrill family. Their initial attempt to escape to Wales was thwarted by Commonwealth troops, and the King returned to the house. He there met with Colonel William Carlis (or Careless), one of the last royalists to escape the battlefield. According to tradition Carelis's variable last name was altered after the Restoration to "Carlos" ("Charles" in Spanish) by Charles II himself to commemorate the events at Boscobel. Carlis's rank is variously reported as Captain, Major and Colonel.
As Commonwealth troops approached the house, searching for Royalists, the King and Carlis spent a day hidden in the Royal Oak, and the next day hidden in a priest hole at Boscobel House. After this, Giffard and the Pendrills were able to use their contacts with other Catholics to smuggle the King and Wilmot to France. (See Escape of Charles II).
When King Charles returned to England and took the throne in 1660, he granted annuities to the Pendrills for their services, and the Pendrills and Colonel Carlis were permitted to amend their coats of arms to depict an oak tree and three royal crowns.
The Oak today
The tree standing on the site today is not the original Royal Oak, which is recorded to have been destroyed in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by tourists who cut off branches and chunks as souvenirs. The present day tree is believed to be a two or three hundred-year old descendant of the original and is thus known as 'Son of Royal Oak'.
In 2000, Son of Royal Oak was badly injured during a violent storm and lost many branches, becoming a shadow of its former self. Another oak sapling was planted near the site of the original Royal Oak in 2001 by Prince Charles; it was grown from one of the Son's acorns and is thus a grandson of the Royal Oak.
Namesakes
The name HMS Royal Oak has been given to several Royal Navy ships, including the first battleship to be lost in the Second World War at Scapa Flow on October 14, 1939.
Also, today, hundreds of pubs such as the one in Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, bear the name Royal Oak, many of which bear a sign featuring an image of an oak tree and crown.
Famous Swiss watch manufacturer Audemars Piguet has dedicated a watch collection on the Royal Oak.
Strangely, a town in the United States state of Michigan is named Royal Oak, after the famous tree; supposedly, an oak in the area was held to resemble the Royal Oak.
See also
Queen Victoria is known to be the Royal Oak of Europe.
External links
"Royal Oak (tree)"