In 1660, the English Parliament established the twenty-ninth day of May, both the birthday of King Charles II and the day upon which he entered London after his exile, as a public holiday in commemoration of the Restoration of the Monarchy.
Anniversary of the Restoration
'Resolved, That a Bill be prepared for keeping of a perpetual Anniversary, for a Day of Thanksgiving 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, with Safety, to his People and Kingdoms: And that the Nine-and-twentieth Day of May, in every Year, being the Birth Day of his Sacred Majesty, and the Day of his Majesty's Return to his Parliament, be yearly set apart for that Purpose…
Thanksgiving Day
Resolved, That the Lords be desired to join with this House, in beseeching the King's Majesty, to appoint a Day to be set apart for publick Thanksgiving to God, throughout this Realm, for the great Blessing and Mercy God hath vouchsafed to the People of these Kingdoms, after their manifold and grievous Sufferings, in the happy Restoration of his Majesty to his People and Kingdoms. Ordered, That Sir Wm. Lewis, Mr. Finch, Mr. Perrepont, Serjeant Maynard, Sir Wm. Morris, Mr. Pryn, Mr. Turner, do withdraw, and pen a Petition to his Majesty to this Effect, upon the present Debate.'
House of Commons Journal Volume 8: 30 May 1660, Journal of the House of Commons: volume 8: 1660-1667 (1802), pp. 49-50.
Until the mid-nineteeth century, a service entitled "A Form of Prayer with Thanksgiving; To be used yearly on the xxix. day of May; Being the day of the His Majesties Birth, and happy Return to His Kingdoms" was annexed to the Book of Common Prayer.
On January 17, 1859, Queen Victoria, acting in response to addresses from both Houses of Parliament and cancelling the previous order made upon her accession to the throne for their continuance, issued a royal warrant abolishing the so-called "State Services" (Gunpowder Plot, November 5; Martyrdom of King Charles I, January 30; and the Restoration of King Charles II, May 29) and ordering the removal of these forms from the Book of Common Prayer. It should be noted that the suppression of these observances, while effected by Royal and Parliamentary authority, was accomplished without the consent of Convocation, in violation of the compact between Church and Realm, as set forth in the Act of Uniformity which imposed the Book of Common Prayer in 1662.
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Fr. Barnes has been so kind as to provide the Propers below.
Related posts:
The feast of St Charles the Martyr will no doubt be an important event in the calendar of the ordinariates, being an important part of the patrimony that accumulated during the years of separation. (Why was Queen Victoria asked to approve the abolition of those services?)
I very much doubt it.
I concur (geddit?), but why do you doubt it?
In response to the LBS's first post I suggest a read of any of the standard works on the "Protestant Crusade" devoted (1800-1860) to "No Popery" and therefore very anti-Tractarian. HM was very much against anti-Catholicism but she disliked the Tractarians, possibly because they were friendly with Gladstone for whom she had a great dislike.
HM did not like evangelicals either. She had never forgiven the extreme protestants for kicking up a fuss when the word "protestant" was accidentally omitted as a prefix to the name of her beloved Albert in the announcement to parliament of her decision to marry. I think that was as much as anything Royal indignation that anyone could be so barking mad as to think that she would give up the throne by marrying a Catholic.
However, she wrote that she considered Tractarians to be secret RC's and not honest in their professions of loyalty to the established Church. So their special services got the chop – actually I think they were relegated to an appendix or something like that – a BCP expert (which I am not) should be able to give chapter & verse.