When Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne in 1952, it was widely thought to be a “New Elizabethan” era.
It was full of post-war optimism for an era of modernity and technological and social progress, at a time when wartime rationing had not yet ended.
We are now in a new era of the reign of Charles III. But how will this be described?
It may be the “New Caroline” era, with the previous Caroline era being the reign of Charles I, which ended in 1649 with his beheading after losing the civil war. Or could it be the “New Carolean” era, which usually refers to the merry monarch, Charles II?
Although his reign is often described as the Restoration, following the return of the monarchy in 1660. Both come from Carolus, the Latin version of Charles.
If you go to Greenwich in south-east London, you can see Carolus Rex carved on the 17th century buildings along the Thames.
More than 300 years later there is another Carolus Rex on the throne. But it may also be remembered by historians as part of the wider era of the House of Windsor.
