Prince William was recently reported (wrongly as it turns out) as wanting his eventual reign to break with the Church of England, which led to questions as to whether that was desirable or even possible while retaining the monarchy itself. Now, sources claim that His Royal Highness will do no such thing, but that he does not share the deep faith of his father or late grandmother of blessed memory.
The Prince of Wales and his wife have done an excellent job in reinvigorating the image of the monarchy and working very hard for his future subjects, but is that enough?
The central part of a coronation is the anointing - in private and in the presence of God - followed by the crowning by the leading representative of the church in England. Monarchy is not a secular position or privilege, but a sacred duty. Spurn that duty and there is no kingship, just a sham. Rights of succession derive from God, not biology, nor any human agency or ideology. His Royal Highness is the rightful heir to his father but has a choice. He can either understand his role and step into it or not, but that role cannot be compromised.
Monarchy was not always Anglican, nor even Christian, but it was always sacred and its connection with the Divine and the land endures whatever the inclinations of its heirs..First and foremost the crown wears the king who is the servant of God, land and people.
Sacred kingship is the norm, whether as representative, mediator or of divine nature. This intrinsic meaning of monarchy originated many thousands of years ago and occured throughout the world. God-kings, priest-kings, shaman-kings or philosopher-kings.
Such intrinsic and perpetual truths cannot be 'modernised', modified or improved. Once crowned, a monarch may and should be relevant to their people and serve their interests with them and amongst them, but that is done by serving God and the office that has been inherited and held in trust dynastically, first.
William may be willing to go through the motions to comply with the appearance rather than the reality of faith, but is that enough? Pomp and pageantry are nothing without meaning. Ceremony facilitates a state of mind. An oath is sacred or it is just a promise or a contract and nothing more.
We can be relieved that William is not talking about disestablishment, but concerned that a future sovereign does not seem to understand the deeper nature of sovereignty, either of an individual or the nation. When His Royal Highness sings the National Anthem or says, God Save the King, what does he mean by that?
God bless the Prince of Wales and God help our blessed monarchy.