Would King William really break with the Church of England?

The Royal Family may have hoped that 2024 would begin in a quieter fashion than last year did, but if so, they must be disappointed. Once again, the reason for their unease is a revelatory book, this time Robert Hardman’s new biography Charles III: The Inside Story.

First came the disclosure that the Queen was incensed by Harry and Meghan naming their daughter Lilibet. Today’s story is that Prince William – not a man noted for his interest in ecclesiastical matters, it must be said – is considering breaking with the Church of England when he becomes monarch.

Once, this story would have been truly jaw-dropping in its implications. But it says much about our secular society that the book’s publicists did not consider it as noteworthy as the Harry and Meghan brouhaha. Nonetheless, the details are fascinating.

Hardman writes that ‘in royal circles, it is no secret that [William] does not share the King’s sense of the spiritual, let alone the late Queen’s unshakeable devotion to the Anglican church’. That old redoubtable, ‘a senior Palace figure’, is quoted as saying, ‘His father is very spiritual and happy to talk about faith but the prince is not. He doesn’t go to church every Sunday, but then nor do the large majority of the country. He might go at Christmas and Easter but that’s it. He very much respects the institutions but he is not instinctively comfortable in a faith environment.’

William, a 41 year old man, is thought to be one of life’s casual Christians at best. He attends church at Easter, Christmas and for ceremonial occasions, such as the annual carol concert at Westminster Abbey in December. But few have ever regarded him as having the deep religious faith of either his father or grandmother.

In fact, the member of the Royal Family that he most closely resembles in this regard – although, thankfully, in few others – is Edward VIII. His blithely godless demeanour led the then Archbishop of Canterbury Cosmo Lang to sigh that, ‘It was clear that he knows little and, I fear, cares little about the Church and its affairs’. Lang worried that, when his time came to crown Edward, performing the ceremony would be almost immoral. Lang complained that ‘as the months passed and his relations with Mrs Simpson became more notorious, the thought of my having to consecrate him as King weighed on me as a heavy burden. Indeed, I considered whether I could bring myself to do so.’

There is little such danger of Justin Welby, or his successor, having a similar crisis of conscience when it comes to the future King William. And, fascinating though the revelations in Hardman’s book undoubtedly are, they remain the tittle-tattle of anonymous and gossipy sources, rather than a public statement.

It seems incredible that the new monarch would ever wish to disassociate the Royal Family from the institution of the church. Yet just as King Charles has tried to be a moderniser, so it seems that his son might bring about such innovations as making his coronation service ‘less spiritual’ and ‘more discreet’, as well as a great deal shorter. For those of us who found aspects of last year’s event ridiculous – one thinks immediately of the stern-faced Penny Mordaunt, sword proudly held aloft – this would not be an unwelcome development.

Still, at a time when the Church of England is struggling to connect with the average citizen of this country perhaps more than ever – the recent revelations about one of its clergy, Paula Vennells, have certainly not helped its PR in this regard – stories about William’s general disinterest in religion will certainly be unwelcome. But who knows, perhaps his younger brother will yet develop a keen fascination in the more evangelical aspects of American Christianity and attempt to import it to his home country. Stranger things have happened.