The Last Days of Charles II

As Charles II lay dying, his brother James noticed that the King was reluctant to receive holy communion from the clergy of the Church of England. James whispered to the King, and having received his approval, cleared the sickroom so that a Roman Catholic priest could be brought in surreptitiously.

The priest brought secretly to the bedside of Charles II by his brother James heard the King’s confession, and gave him communion according to the ways of the Roman Catholic Church, which was technically against the law. After saying his farewells to his children, Charles passed a quiet night before departing this life on the morning of February 6th, 1685.

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