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The Times & The Sunday Times
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Old soldiers on parade to honour royal founder

Home Staff
The Times
Army Pensioners of the Royal Hospital chelsea on parade in their distinctive scarlet coats
Army Pensioners of the Royal Hospital chelsea on parade in their distinctive scarlet coats
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER, RICHARD POHLE
Home Staff
The Times

As pensioners of the Royal Hospital wait to go on parade for the dress rehearsal of its Founder’s Day today, one old soldier takes a restorative nip from a hip-flask to help him through the rigors of the day. The annual event commemorates the founding of the hospital by Charles II in 1682. It is also known as Oak Apple Day to mark the escape of the future King after the Battle of Worcester (1651) when he hid in a tree to avoid the Parliamentary forces.