Charles the First, King of England, was beheaded in 1649. By the time he went to trial before the High Court of Justice, he knew what the outcome would be. Charles had alienated almost everyone who was in power and his cause was lost. The Roundheads were pissed and they wanted vengeance.
Maybe Charles held out some hope that Parliament would not actually lope off the head of the King of England. Kings had been killed in the past, but usually in battle or at the hands of powerful conspirators. No Parliament had actually passed a death sentence on a sitting king and then brought it about.
Charles refused to answer the charges brought against him, perhaps knowing that he was a dead man. My question for His Majesty, if I could talk to him, would be "Your Highness, was it a relief to hear the sentence."
Sometimes the train of the inevitable slowly chugs our way, the iceberg inches closer, and finally the process takes so long to unfold that the natural fear of the conclusion turns to relief. Ray Charles (not the King) could have seen that one coming from a mile away, finally! That's what I'm wondering today.
At least the scaffold has clarity.
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