Defender of Faith, and a Coronation That Was Adjusted

In a television interview in 1994, while Prince of Wales, he said he would rather be seen as a defender of faith than as Defender of the Faith, and the remark has been discussed ever since as a question about what an established church can mean in a country where most people belong to no church and a substantial minority belong to other religions. He returned to the subject on later occasions, describing the role as protecting the space in which all faiths may be practised freely rather than as standing at a distance from his own, and in his first address after the accession he said he would maintain the constitutional position of the Church of England while holding a duty to protect the diversity of the country.

The coronation in May 2023 was conducted along those lines. The service kept the Christian rite substantially intact, with the anointing, the presentation of the regalia and the crowning performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Archbishop introduced the oath with a preface describing the established church as seeking to foster an environment in which people of all faiths and beliefs may live freely. Leaders of the Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, Muslim and Buddhist communities took part, delivering a spoken greeting to the King as he left the sanctuary, which had not been done at a British coronation before.

Sources The Prince of Wales: A BiographyJonathan Dimbleby with The Authorised Liturgy for the Coronation Rite of His Majesty King Charles IIIThe Royal Household and the Church of England