Restoration (England) happened." Charles returned from exile, leaving the Hague on 23 May and landing at Dover on 25 May. He entered London on 29 May 1660, his 30th 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. Some contemporaries described the Restoration as "a divinely ordained miracle". The sudden and unexpected deliverance from usurpation and tyranny was interpreted as a restoration of the natural and divine order. The Cavalier Parliament convened for the first time on 8 May
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