Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Religion & Law Blogs -> Religion Clause

Religion & Law

: Religion Clause

Will Prince Charles Eventually Have Religiously More Inclusive Title?

By Howard M. Friedman

According to an article in yesterday in Religious Intelligence, recent reports that Britain's Prince Charles would change the Coronation Oath to make it more multi-faith when he eventually becomes king are unfounded. Britain's monarch is head of the Church of England as well as head of state. Prince Charles has indicated in the past that he would like the king's traditional title, "Defender of the Faith", to be changed to the more inclusive "Defender of Faith"-- omitting "the" from the title. The exact style of the British sovereign has been modified over the years by Parliament. Apparently one way for Charles to accommodate his wishes would be for Parliament to revert to the original Latin form-- "Fidei Defensor." It can be translated either as referring to "faith" or "the faith". Despite the implication to the contrary in the Religious Intelligence article, the Coronation Oath does not appear to contain a reference to the title of the monarch.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on November 17, 2008 (boomark / email).