Prince Charles Could Change ‘Profoundly Christian’ Part Of Coronation Service As King

Prince Charles could change a part of the coronation service when he becomes king after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

During his coronation, Prince Charles will be given the title Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England. BBC Radio 4’s “Beyond Belief,” hosted by Ernie Rea, recently discussed the religious significance of the coronation service and the Christian underpinnings of the monarchy.

According to Reverend Dr. Judith Maltby, reader in church history at the University of Oxford, “One of the interesting things about the history of the coronation service is that it isn’t a static history. There isn’t one temple that has been used over and over again – it gets revisited and moderated and modified.”

Maltby described the current coronation service as profoundly Christian and said that she has completely forgotten that it was done in the context of a service of holy communion.

But the biggest issue regarding the speech is that there was a non-Anglican Christian representation in the last coronation and in the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II’s father.

“I can’t see the next coronation not having multi-faith participation, for example,” she said.

Meanwhile, host Rea also asked the reverend if she thought that monarchy could survive the 21st-century service without its religious underpinnings. Maltby said that she didn’t think so. After all, the coronation service looks somewhat like an ordination service. There is also something priestly about the monarch.

Prince Charles recently said that he will retain the monarch’s title as the Defender of the Faith when he becomes king. However, he will also ensure that other people’s faiths will also be practiced.

During his interview with BBC Radio 2 in 2015, Prince Charles said that the Church of England’s purpose is not to defend Anglicanism to the exclusion of other religions. Rather, it is to protect the free practice of all faiths in the country.