I used to be a moderate monarchist and saw having a monarch that “reigns but does not rule”, to quote Walter Bagehot who I studied back in the day, was a good thing overall and part of the checks and balances inherent in the technically unwritten British Constitution.

These days I am less convinced and so as not to upset some of the nice people who may read this I better not give reasons and won’t cite conspiracy theorist types claiming that the Royal Family are in the main a bad lot. I wasn’t going to write this blog, as of the view that the monarchy is in the main an irrelevance and how good the monarch is, is neither here nor there, but two things have prompted me. People I respect have being going on about King Charles III betraying his coronation oath, and people like Chris Wickland and Gavin Ashendon, who I respect and follow, have shown themselves to be righteously indignant. When a friend enquired whether I was going to blog, I said no. As I reflected further on the story, helped by AI, I can now see it as very relevant and, since it impacts the dangerous direction my country is heading, I changed my mind.

“The flashpoint came in the Sovereign Grant Report 2025-26. Where previous reports listed the King’s duties as “Head of the Church of England and Defender of the Faith”, the new version states: “His Majesty is Supreme Governor of the Church of England and protects the space for Faith within the multi-faith nation.” On the face of it, it sounds inclusive. But set against the coronation oath sworn in 2023 — to “maintain and preserve the Protestant Reformed Religion established by law” and to “maintain the laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel” — it reads like a downgrade. That’s why figures like Gavin Ashenden called it “a betrayal of his office, of his Christian faith, and that of his subjects”, and why Chris Wickland and others responded with righteous indignation. The oath bound the Sovereign to defend a specific faith. The new description binds him to defend a space where all faiths, and no faith, can coexist equally. It’s not what we were told at the Coronation. It’s not what he swore on the Bible”.

None of this will come as any surprise to those who have been following King Charles. He has long been marked as an Islamist and a globalist, and long ago stated he wanted to be defender of faith rather than “the faith”. In the light of attacks on Christians in this and Commonwealth countries when he said nothing, the way the country is being led by inept politicians who care little about such matters and the apostate leaning Church of England, of which he is head, whose bishops also have said nothing on these matters, it is all too disappointing, even if unsurprising. All I want to add for now is “may God help us”; we can really do with it. God save the king!