Royalist locket to mourn King Charles I found in Oswestry is treasure

In the aftermath of the war, the monarchy was abolished, and England was governed as a republic, and for those who remained loyal to the king, their expressions of this became much more private.

The British Museum said that Royalists, also known as Cavaliers, would have small objects such as medals, rings and heart-shaped lockets, which carried Charles’ portrait alongside inscriptions including “I live and die in loyaltie” and “Prepared bee to follow me”.

It said they were worn or kept close to the body as “intimate expressions of loyalty in a period when Royalist belief sat uneasily within the new political order.”

“Essentially, it’s the front of a locket which somebody like a Royalist would’ve kept about their person, hidden away, because you’d get into a lot of trouble having one of these now the commonwealth had taken over,” said Langston.