Questions have arisen over whether one of the oldest titles associated with the English monarchy is about to disappear.
A new book debates whether the Prince of Wales will be known as Defender of the Faith when he eventually takes the throne.
The issue arises in Robert Hardman’s book Charles III.
In it, the differences in spirituality between The King and his heir are widely talked about with Robert Hardman noting that Prince William isn’t a regular churchgoer, unlike his father and his grandmother.
Queen Elizabeth II was always vocal about the importance of her faith while King Charles has spent many years working on interfaith dialogue. The first greeting given to him after his Coronation was from a group of faith leaders.
In fact, coronations are one area where Robert Hardman says William already has very firm views around the role of the church. The author says that the first in line to the throne wants his own crowning to be less spiritual and much shorter.
Whether that is possible remains to be seen. The Coronation service is based on the Liber Regalis which was written in the 14th century and which has been followed in some shape or other ever since.
It’s also not known whether William or any future monarch could dispense with the title of ‘Defender of the Faith’. For many years before his accession, it was reported that King Charles wanted to change it to ‘Defender of Faith’. However, once he took the throne, he was known in the same manner as monarchs from the 16th century onwards, as Defender of the Faith.
The title was given to Henry VIII by Pope Leo X in 1521 after the English king had come out in defence of the church following the rise of a new way of belief spearheaded by Martin Luther. However, the Papacy and the Monarchy would fall out just a few years later when Henry wanted to end his first marriage, to Catherine of Aragon, the Church said no. Henry would go on to declare himself Supreme Governor of the Church of England as he broke from Rome.
Whether either title can be put aside by a monarch isn’t clear. Neither is the scope that a sovereign would have to break the current ties between the Crown and the Church. The monarch promises to ‘maintain and preserve’ the church while archbishops and bishops are technically appointed by the Crown although it is the Prime Minister and government who actually choose them.
For some, the idea of the change will be questionable. However, Prince William’s stance may be more in line with an ever changing country. The Church of England has experienced a sharp decline in attendance in recent years. Figures at Catholic churches and at evangelical Protestant churches have either grown or remained stable. William, like his father, is also well aware of the religious diversity of the country he will one day reign over. And in a world where religious division continues to cause real pain, the role of a Head of State, which is what the Monarch is and remains, in spiritual life isn’t an irrelevance.
The choice he makes remains to be seen. As King Charles himself noted before his accession, actions and ideas as heir are very different from how life is and must be once monarch. However, given how important faith and spirituality is to so many, it is a vital debate to be had.
"; n.innerHTML = "window._taboola = window._taboola || [];_taboola.push({mode:'thumbnails-a', container:'taboola-below-article-thumbnails', placement:'Below Article Thumbnails', target_type: 'mix'});"; insertAfter(t, e); insertAfter(n, t) }injectWidgetByMarker('tbmarker');
