Why see it?

On 30 January 1649, Charles I was executed just outside the Banqueting House, on a scaffold stage especially erected in Whitehall. 

He had lost the Civil War, and his enemies had finally decided that execution would be the best fate for him. 

On the day of the execution he said goodbye to his children before being escorted to the Banqueting House. 

It was bitterly cold.  He wore a second shirt, so not to shiver from the cold, in case it was misunderstood as trembling from fear. He was also persuaded to drink a glass of claret so that he would not faint before he reached the block. 

Charles I was composed on the scaffold.  He died with great dignity.