WORCESTER is fully entitled to call itself the Faithful City for the support it gave to the Royalist cause during the English Civil War, aristocrat historian Charles Spencer told a packed audience at the Guildhall.

Critics have sometimes accused the city of being disingenuous over its claim and “bending with the wind” during the war, but Earl Spencer, younger brother of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, strongly disagreed.

In Worcester for a talk organised by the Battle of Worcester Society, he said: ”In my view, Worcester thoroughly deserves the title the Faithful City for the support it gave to both Charles I and Charles II. After the Battle of Worcester, the Parliamentarians destroyed large parts of the city and its population was made to suffer terribly, so any recognition of its backing for the King is completely justified.”

The theme of the Earl’s talk was the hunt for Charles II following his defeat at the Battle of Worcester in 1651, which features in his latest book To Catch A King: Charles II’s Great Escape.

To aid his escape, Charles turned to Catholic families, “because they were very good at hiding priests,” adopted a series of disguises, including that of a woodman, and famously hid in the Royal oak at Boscobel House, near Bishop’s Wood in Shropshire.

“The six weeks Charles was on the run before escaping to mainland Europe were the six greatest weeks of his life,” said the Earl. “He succeeded through a mix of loyalty, luck and hard grit. He wasn’t the greatest king, but he was a survivor.”

Earl Spencer said his family had been “reluctant Royalists” during the Civil War, for although they disagreed with the King on several issues, they did not want to see the collapse of the monarchy. “However, I think if I had been alive at the time, I would probably have been a Parliamentarian,” he added.

To Catch a King by Charles Spencer is published by HarperCollins and costs £20 hardback.