King Charles is supposed to be “the Defender of the Faith” of the Anglican Church. He’s always seen religion as more of a buffet though – for years, he’s legitimately done a lot of interfaith dialogue, and he’s always been pretty respectful of Britain’s multifaith society. So imagine my surprise at this story. Apparently, back in the 1990s, Charles was concerned about political correctness run amok in many Christian sects, and he thought the Orthodox Church was the only sect not corrupted by wokeism. Oh, Charles is like THAT??
The King once praised the Orthodox Church as the only Christians who are “not corrupted by loathsome political correctness”, a newly uncovered letter has revealed. In private correspondence from 1998, the then Prince of Wales admitted he felt more drawn to the “timeless traditions” of the Orthodox Church as he grew older.
Writing to his friend Dudley Poplak, the late interior designer who worked closely with the Royal family, the King said: “Personally, the older I get, the more I am drawn to the great, timeless traditions of the Orthodox Church.” He added: “They are the only ones that have not been corrupted by loathsome political correctness.”
The King, who became Supreme Governor of the Church of England upon ascending the throne like his mother before him, has always had strong ties to the Greek Orthodox Church. His father, the late Prince Philip, was baptised a Greek Orthodox, although he later converted to Anglicanism before marrying Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen. To mark his paternal heritage, the monarch had a choir perform Psalm 71 in Greek at his Coronation last May. He has also been seeking support and spiritual advice from Archimandrite Ephraim, a Greek Orthodox monk, in the wake of his cancer diagnosis earlier this year.
In 2004, it was claimed that he was so enamoured with the Orthodox faith that he adorned a section of his Highgrove home with prized Byzantine icons, many said to originate from the Mount – the Orthodox world’s holiest site. Greek Orthodox Church worship focuses more on traditional sacrament and sacred scriptures as opposed to preaching and prayer.
The newly uncovered letter comes as the Church of England has faced accusations of being consumed by political correctness and failing to stand up for Christian values over the past 20 years. The Church has come under criticism for its diversity, equality and inclusion initiatives and, last year, faced scrutiny for the establishment of a £100 million fund to “address past wrongs of slavery” during a time of financial crisis among parishes.
Imagine being mad about the Anglican Church’s DEI policies. Jesus preached DEI, how woke!! As for Charles’s love of the Orthodox Church… I suspect that he gets all of that from his father. Again, it wouldn’t be a big deal – I certainly wouldn’t give a sh-t – if this was Chuck Battenberg, random German-British guy. But it looks more and more like the Windsors have no interest in the Anglican Church anymore. The king would prefer Orthodoxy and the heir isn’t religious whatsoever.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red.
- NMA SOLO As the Jewish community prepares to celebrate Chanukah, His Majesty The King visited JW3, a Jewish community centre that is open to all faiths and acts as a hub for the arts, culture, social action and learning in North London. Founded by Dame Vivien Duffield DBE, JW3 opened in October 2013 with a vision of a vibrant, diverse, unified British-Jewish community, inspired by and engaged with Jewish arts, culture, learning and life. the king was presented with a menorah,Image: 745049656, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Ian Vogler / Avalon
- Windsor, UNITED KINGDOM – King Charles III leaves Windsor Castle in Windsor, England. Pictured: King Charles III BACKGRID USA 26 MARCH 2024 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
- SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – King Charles III and Queen Camilla attended a church service at St Thomas Anglican Church in North Sydney on Sunday, marking the start of their official engagements in Australia. The royal couple has a packed schedule, including a possible appearance at the TAB Everest horse race and meetings with Australian officials. Pictured: King Charles III BACKGRID USA 20 OCTOBER 2024 BYLINE MUST READ: MTRX / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
- SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – King Charles III and Queen Camilla attended a church service at St Thomas Anglican Church in North Sydney on Sunday, marking the start of their official engagements in Australia. The royal couple has a packed schedule, including a possible appearance at the TAB Everest horse race and meetings with Australian officials. Pictured: King Charles III BACKGRID USA 20 OCTOBER 2024 BYLINE MUST READ: MTRX / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
- SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – King Charles III and Queen Camilla attended a church service at St Thomas Anglican Church in North Sydney on Sunday, marking the start of their official engagements in Australia. The royal couple has a packed schedule, including a possible appearance at the TAB Everest horse race and meetings with Australian officials. Pictured: King Charles III BACKGRID USA 20 OCTOBER 2024 BYLINE MUST READ: MTRX / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
- SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – King Charles III and Queen Camilla attended a church service at St Thomas Anglican Church in North Sydney on Sunday, marking the start of their official engagements in Australia. The royal couple has a packed schedule, including a possible appearance at the TAB Everest horse race and meetings with Australian officials. Pictured: King Charles III, Queen Camilla BACKGRID USA 20 OCTOBER 2024 BYLINE MUST READ: MTRX / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
- Apia, SAMOA – King Charles III and Queen Camilla visit The Samoan Cultural Village which celebrates the importance of traditional arts, crafts, culture, enterprise and sport in Samoa. Pictured: King Charles III and Queen Camilla BACKGRID USA 24 OCTOBER 2024 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
- Apia, SAMOA – King Charles III and Queen Camilla visit The Samoan Cultural Village which celebrates the importance of traditional arts, crafts, culture, enterprise and sport in Samoa. Pictured: King Charles III and Queen Camilla BACKGRID USA 24 OCTOBER 2024 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
Love your Choice of pic Charles in the car with Funny lips
Correct me if I’m wrong, wasn’t the Anglican Church founded because the king at that time wanted to divorce his wife and the only way to do it was to break away from the Catholic Church? Then he made himself head of the newly founded church?
Yes. And then his daughter from his new marriage had to be fullly (and violently) Church of England or else she wasn’t legitimate.
Rinse and repeat and here we are.
Charles has no business talking about politics like this.
And yes, Henry VIII wanted an annulment of his first marriage to Katherine of Aragon, because they had no surviving sons. Katherine’s nephew Charles was Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (basically: what is now Germany), King of Spain and ruled in many more territories.
Charles was against the annulment and the pope did not dare defy him.
Frustrated, Henry had the Church of England set up, so the marriage could be annulled and he could marry his second wife Anne Boleyn, while Katherine still lived.
At heart, Henry remained quite conservative and many Catholic rituals were kept or adapted, instead of scrapped.
Excellent summary. Thanks.
Next, explain high church and low church.
Personally, as a French Huguenot descendant, close to US Presbyterian churches, I suppose, I initially thought that Church of England was basically a Catholic church where the priest can marry.
The Reformation in England has nothing to do with The Continental Reformation. In fact, Henry VIII hated Luther.
THANK YOU for correctly referring to it as an annulment, not a divorce as is usually misunderstood!
Yes – and Henry VIII broke from the Catholic church because his marriage was supposedly *cursed*. Katherine had suffered a number of miscarriages and stillbirths, and only had the one daughter. His excuse was he had taken his brother’s wife for himself and as a result couldn’t father sons, hence he needed to take a new wife who could give him sons.
Henry and katherine had a son prince Henry who lived for only about two months. He died after a brief illness.this was in 1511.
Yes that’s true. You would think he likes that aspect but of course he doesn’t like the diversity or any of the”woke” things that they do because he is a known racist.
I would imagine that when your entire life & lifestyle depended upon a system wherein the first born son gets to inherit everything, you definitely would not be in favor of anything that challenges that.
So Charles knows that the monarchy is completely at odds with modernity, and in particular modern England. So much so that very religion it’s meant to represent isn’t patriarchal or abusive enough to align with the monarchy. Mmmkay.
He ran off his son and DIL because they were the face of the modern monarchy. Also, he should really return those stolen Byzantine relics.
They’re not relics they’re icons which where likely bought or gifted as Charles is a major founder of the monks at Mount Athos. He funded the refurbishment of their monastery through an auction of his watercolors.
Living relic of a disgraced hierarchical institution prefers institutions that reject development toward equal treatment for all. I’m simply shocked.
Oh wait, what’s that? The Telegraph writing about Charles having an issue with woke political correctness. Fits that paper’s world view for sure. As for Charles, he’s married to Camilla. They both likely have issues with anything that seems too woke. Excepting the environment for Charles I guess.
Except that they both very much like and took advantage of the “woke” idea of divorce. But sure, pick and choose you ignorant, entitled, amoral, little, fat-fingered man.
The Telegraph gleefully jumping yet again onto one of its favourite hobby horses to make mischief. Yep, culture wars (but with added religious divides/tensions).
I mean the letter was written almost thirty years ago.
This is not surprising at all and in my mind only further confirms that he was one of the royal racists.
A fund to address “past wrongs of slavery” is political correctness? And the Church fails to stand up for Christian values with all this political correctness? No one would ever accuse me of being overly religious, but have any of these people screaming about political correctness undermining Christian values ever opened the New Testament? It’s kinda all about what they are calling “political correctness”.
So he likes the Christian faith only when it suppresses women.. guess he likes the CoE better when it was ok to murder your wife to remarry.
If Charles is spending his time reading tomes amd chatting with archbishops, then he’ll get a lot of history and theology. But, I’ll speak as Greek Orthdox going back on both sides as far as recorded history. The reality of life under the Church isn’t particularly anti-woke. Parish priests can be married and two divorces are allowed if one wants to marry again in the Church. There’s really no practical micromanaging of everyday life. Nobody cares who you sleep with and confession is not required. I could go on, but I won’t. 🙂
And Charles’ great-Aunt is and Orthodox saint .
As for the priests getting married that is all christian traditions except for Catholic
Maybe he’s thinking of his great aunt, but Orthodox Christians aren’t any different from any other people. It’s not like they’re living in some closed medieval societies. They’re just as politically correct as anyone else.
Except they’re not called priests in other Christian religions, it’s pastor, reverend, minister, deacon, etc.
@eurydice maybe he’s referring more to the very traditional monks at Mt Athos which he’s visited several times. Women can’t even go there
Bizarre, but not surprising. It’s been a trend for a couple decades now, reactionary evangelicals leaving Protestantism to go Orthodox, to get closer to “authentic” Christianity. And, IMO, to run away from the modern world. When you dig a little deeper you usually find … misogyny, bigotry and a longing for patriarchy/hierarchy.
If that’s what they think they’re going to get by converting, then they’re in for a big surprise. I don’t know where people get the idea that Orthodox Christianity is some kind of exotic, eastern mystery that’s shrouded in the past. We’re all living in the 21st century.
It’s the cool gold onion domes. 😉 Although, wait a minute, those are probably Russian Orthodox-specific.
I went to the orthodox cathedral in Wiesbaden a few years ago and they turned away women in pants, people in jeans, people in shorts, people in short sleeves or bare shoulders, women with knees showing, bare midriff and bare heads. That nun there wasn’t playing. It was stricter than the Vatican which at least had scarves to borrow for different coverings.
Eurydice, I once read a very silly book that claimed that young American men where converting to Orthodoxy bc it was more “hardcore.” It was written by the wife of an American man who became an Orthodox priest.
As a Greek Orthodox Christian, I laughed and promptly put the book down. I wish I could remember the name of the book.
His words would sound better if they did not come from an adulterer who laundered money for Russian oligarchs and the bin Laden family, befriended child molesters, protected a rapist, and is clearly racist. So Charles can go f- himself — or would be too politically correct?
Charles does not seem to understand that part of being King, Royalty, or a decent human means that you consider everyone equal and treat them with respect, kindness and politeness.
For crying out loud QE met leaders from all over the world for decades. And she was considered with respect for her diplomacy.
Loathsome political correctness? = Racist, classist, wealth hoarding, judgmental, cruel, worthless, crapbag is Charles. Showing again why Down with The Monarchy is gaining traction. He is a complete ass.
At one time, I thought Charles would be a well-prepared competent king. But he is mired in the past, and his character flaws prevents him from being a decent modern constitutional monarch and human being.
He has Byzantine icons from the Mount? How, pray tell, did he acquire those items?
If he has them and if they came from Mt Athos. But the royal collection has several icons, which aren’t uncommon. A large chunk came from the collection of prince Ludwig of Oettingen Wallerstein which had been forfeited as collateral in a loan from Prince Albert in the 1840s. (Others in the collection are in the national gallery). Plus Philip’s extended Greek and Russian family would’ve had a lot of icons.
The Bible does address Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, but not in the way it’s being applied today. Yeshua HaMashiach would not condone DEI today; it’s very clear Biblically. Same with the Old Testament.
Does political correctness mean you are not allowed to laugh when native people in foreign countries present you with their historical singing and dancing? Darn.
Would hate to be caught on camera doing that, right? Especially when they are a different race. That would look really bad, wouldn’t it?