An Odd Couple

[poliphilo]

This is the West Window Of Farningham church, Kent. Mid 20th century, not hideous, a little bit boring- except...just look who's in it!

On the right our present queen as a young woman- which suggests that the coronation is being commemorated.

And on the left, well who do you think? The only online writer who seems to have noticed the window has taken a quick glance at it and decided it must be George VI- because that would make sense. Wrong. Look properly. He's got long hair, he's got a beard (very un-George VI) and he's holding a crown of thorns. Give up? Drumroll. It's Charles I.

There are those on the Anglo Catholic wing of the Church of England who regard Charles I as a saint and martyr. They have their reasons- which are not widely shared. For them this coupling is appropriate. But for most others (including most royalists) there has to be something a little off, a little inauspicious about linking one's hopes for a new reign with the memory of the autocrat who waged war on his own people and ended up losing his head.

Which is why I suspect this window is unique.