Restoration (1660) May it proclaimed that King Charles II had been the lawful monarch since the execution of Charles I on 30 January 1649. it was as if the last nineteen years had never happened". Charles returned from exile, leaving The Hague on 23 May and landing at Dover on 25 May. He entered London on 29 May, his birthday. To celebrate "his Majesty's Return to his Parliament", 29 May was made a public holiday, popularly known as Oak Apple Day. He was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 23 April 1661. "The commonwealth parliamentary union was, after 1660, treated as null and
Oak Apple Day to God, for the great Blessing and Mercy he hath been graciously pleased to vouchsafe to the People of these Kingdoms, after their manifold and grievous Sufferings, in the Restoration of his Majesty..." The public holiday was formally abolished in the Anniversary Days Observance Act 1859, but the date retains some significance in local or institutional customs. It is, for example, still observed as Founder's Day by the Royal Hospital Chelsea, which was founded by Charles II in 1681. Traditional celebrations to commemorate the event often entailed the wearing of oak apples (a type of plant gall, possibly known in