{"id":343308,"date":"2026-03-23T06:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T06:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/343308\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T06:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T06:36:11","slug":"williams-expression-of-his-quiet-faith-is-not-a-damascene-flash-but-he-has-a-clear-headed-grasp-of-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/343308\/","title":{"rendered":"William’s expression of his ‘quiet faith’ is not a Damascene flash, but he has a clear-headed grasp of reality"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back in 1994, there was trepidation within the Church of England after Prince Charles told an ITV<\/a> documentary that, when the day came, he wanted to be a \u2018defender of faith\u2019 as well as \u2018Defender of the Faith\u2019.<\/p>\n

How far, nervous clergy wondered, would King Charles<\/a> III want to go?<\/p>\n

Fast forward three decades and the concern of the C of E establishment \u2013 until now \u2013 has been whether the current Prince of Wales thinks about the church at all. So there will be a sigh of relief following yesterday\u2019s affirmation that a religious flame does indeed burn within.<\/p>\n

Asked by the Daily Mail if the Prince believes in God, the response from Kensington Palace last night was unequivocal: \u2018Of course.\u2019<\/p>\n

That the question even needed to be asked is a reflection of mounting concerns within Anglican circles that Prince William<\/a> lacks the enthusiasm of his father and his late grandmother for the church of which he will one day be Supreme Governor.<\/p>\n

\"Catherine, <\/p>\n

Catherine, Princess of Wales, and Prince William speak with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame\u00a0Sarah Mullally, in February 2026<\/p>\n

\"Queen <\/p>\n

Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip and now King Charles leave St Paul’s Cathedral in 2002. Does William lack the enthusiasm of his father and his late grandmother for the church?<\/p>\n

Those concerns had led to a briefing from Kensington Palace to The Sunday Times. \u2018The Prince of Wales\u2019s commitment to the Church of England is sometimes quieter than people expect, and for that reason it is not always fully understood<\/a>,\u2019 said an aide, adding: \u2018His connection to the Church, and to the sense of duty that comes with it, runs deep.\u2019<\/p>\n

This unusual intervention comes ahead of this week\u2019s ceremony at Canterbury Cathedral where the Prince will represent the King at the enthronement of the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally.<\/p>\n

The Prince\u2019s team say this \u2018is an opportunity to be very clear in people\u2019s minds of where he stands\u2019. His view is summarised as: \u2018I might not be at church every day but I believe in it, I want to support it.\u2019 However, belief in the C of E is one thing, his view on the Almighty is another.<\/p>\n

Prince William is an intensely private man and, like most of us, wants to keep his faith to himself. Nonetheless, these latest words feel significant and encouraging. As the aide explained to The Sunday Times, the Prince wants to draw \u2018a line in the sand\u2019, adding, \u2018It\u2019s really important\u2019 that questions over his commitment to the Church are \u2018cleared up\u2019.<\/p>\n

Those questions have been circulating since they were raised two years ago in my book, Charles III: The Inside Story, and in the Daily Mail. Back then, I wrote that Prince William was, in the words of a senior aide, \u2018not instinctively comfortable in a faith environment\u2019.<\/p>\n

Like the majority of lukewarm Anglicans, he did not like attending Church beyond high days and holidays and was \u2018a modern young man\u2019 who \u2018gets embarrassed by certain aspects of ceremonial and religion\u2019. However, I was assured he would fulfil his constitutional duties.<\/p>\n

Having spoken to the same people yesterday, I am assured this position is unchanged. Prince William has not been visited by a flash of light like St Paul on the road to Damascus. However, his latest statement, ahead of this week\u2019s important moment for the Church of England, shows two things. First, that he wants to reassure the doubters that he fully grasps the role and importance of the Church.<\/p>\n

Second, it shows that he is moving up a gear in his preparations for the Throne. Prince William has zero wish to shoulder his destiny any sooner than he absolutely has to. However, in seeking to develop a rapport with the new Archbishop \u2013 \u2018in my own way\u2019 \u2013 he is showing a clear-headed grasp of reality.<\/p>\n

\u2018Both the Prince and Princess had a very nice conversation with the new Archbishop and are looking forward to working with her,\u2019 said a Kensington Palace spokesman yesterday.<\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s enthronement of the first female archbishop after 105 consecutive men is a momentous milestone in Canterbury\u2019s 1,429-year history. One day, the incumbent will anoint and crown William V after leading him through his vows. That he will make them with some sort of faith is fine. To have none at all \u2013 now that would be a problem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Back in 1994, there was trepidation within the Church of England after Prince Charles told an ITV documentary…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":343309,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[557,156,7386,48440,111,139,69,4289,16196,24943],"class_list":["post-343308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-dailymail","tag-entertainment","tag-itv","tag-new-york-times","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-prince-william","tag-royals","tag-wills"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=343308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/343309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}