Castleton Garland Day Castleton Garland Day Castleton Garland Day or Garland King Day is held annually on 29 May (unless that date falls on a Sunday, when the custom is transferred to the Saturday) in the town of Castleton in the Derbyshire Peak District. The Garland King, on horseback, and covered to the waist in a heavy, bell-shaped floral garland, leads a procession through the town. The date of the custom coincides with Oak Apple Day and it is said to commemorate the restoration of King Charles II in 1660. By the 1960s, it had become received wisdom that the celebration was a
Esquire of the Body that of the Prince of Wales. For example, Sir Robert Fullhurst served as an Esquire of the Body to Edward, Prince of Wales, son of King Henry VI. At the time of the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 four Esquires of the Body were appointed. This number was reduced to two on the accession of King James II in 1685. The position was eliminated in the English royal household on the accession of Queen Anne in 1702. Esquire of the Body An Esquire of the Body was a personal attendant and courtier to the Kings of England in the