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King Charles Club

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The King Charles Club is a dining society exclusively for members of St John's College, Oxford. The club claims to be Oxford's oldest dining society, though many similar societies also make this claim (such as The Phoenix for members of Brasenose College, Oxford). Membership is by invitation only and is limited to a select group of all male individuals rarely exceeding double digits. The club owns no permanent rooms and meets primarily in Oxford, though annual dinners are often held outside the city. [citation needed]

History

Statue of King Charles I in Canterbury Quad at St John's- often a focus of the Club's activities.

The King Charles Club, normally referred to as the "KCC", is believed to date back to the English Civil War[citation needed]. In 1646, St John's College, which sympathised with the Royalists, acted as Prince Rupert of the Rhine's headquarters for his defence of the city of Oxford, and King Charles I, present in Oxford at the time, is believed to have taken refuge with his nephew at the college for a period of time.[citation needed] A possibly apocryphal story relating to these times is that the King treated Prince Rupert and 11 of his closest lieutenants to an especially opulent meal and so the Club was born.[1] Following the Royalist defeat and King Charles's subsequent execution at Whitehall, the dining society was properly set up to commemorate 'the king martyr himself.' The club's oldest tradition was to annually lay a wreath at the statue of Charles on Whitehall, London.[citation needed] Following this, a dinner was held for members of the society, hosted by the president, but this fast became merely an excuse for excessive debauchery.[citation needed] The club pre-dates and once stood alongside the most prestigious of Oxford dining societies, such as the Bullingdon Club and the Piers Gaveston Society. However, unlike these societies, the King Charles Club only selects undergraduates from St John's College.[citation needed]

Present day

The society is still active in present times[citation needed], despite being banned from college grounds.[2] "Invitation-only" by nature, the King Charles Club selects only from members of St John's College. The club still follows its centuries old traditions, including the laying of the wreath at Whitehall on the anniversary of the king and martyr's execution. The dinner traditionally celebrated after this event has in recent years been held at Stringfellows, Covent Garden.[citation needed] Peter Stringfellow is an honorary member.[3] The club also competes in sporting events- most notably in croquet where its team is known as 'The Martyr's Mallets'.[4]

The Conservative politician Aidan Burley was president of the club during his time at St Johns.[5] Canadian Nobel Prize winning politician Lester Pearson was also a member.[6]

References

  1. ^ http://www.stringfellows.co.uk/honorary-president-of-the-king-charles-club-oxford/
  2. ^ "Drinking the town dry". Cherwell.org. 2003-10-08. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
  3. ^ "Oxford's The King Charles II Society". Stringfellows. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
  4. ^ https://twitter.com/MartyrsMallets?refsrc=email
  5. ^ Nicholas Watt. "Tory MP who attended Nazi-themed stag party loses ministerial aide post". The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
  6. ^ [1]
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