Justin Welby denies strained relationship with King Charles, says coronation will be ‘deeply representative’

The archbishop The King of Canterbury said the king’s coronation would be “deeply representative” of the nation as he denied claims of tension with the monarch over the involvement of religious leaders.

Justin Welby answered “absolutely not” when asked about reports of “tension” between church leaders and Charles who claimed that the problem had delayed the publication of the order of service for the ceremony.

King supports interfaith dialogue and celebrates the main non-Christian faiths practiced in the UK over the years.

But the Mail on Sunday reported that church leaders had resisted what they claimed was the king’s desire to more actively involve religious leaders from religions such as Judaism and Islam during the May 6 coronation.

Mr Welby told the BBC: “The service on the 6th is deeply Christian and when it is published you will see that it also represents the people of this land.”

The senior priest is believed to have made his comments as he joined the chief rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and leading figures from the Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist communities at a homeless charity in central London as they urged Britons to volunteer on Coronation weekend.

When asked about claims of tension, the archbishop replied: “No, no tension, absolutely none.

“What there is is a deeper meaning — both a reflection of our tradition and the fact that we are infinitely more diverse than we were in 1953.”

The king sparked controversy in 1994 when he spoke of his desire to become a “defender of the faith” rather than a “defender of the faith” as monarch, raising the prospect of major changes in the ancient relationship between the Church of England and the monarchy.

Later in 2015, Charles said he believed it was possible to be a “Defender of the Faith” as well as being a defender of religions, and he was announced as a Defender of the Faith at his Accession Council in September.

At a reception for religious leaders after the Queen’s death, he described himself as a “committed Anglican Christian”, saying he would take “an oath at his coronation on the settlement of the Church of England”.

But he said he believed the sovereign had a less formally recognized additional duty “to protect the diversity of our country, including by protecting the space of faith itself and its practice through the religions, cultures, traditions and beliefs to which our hearts and minds are directed. us as individuals.”

A senior Church official involved in planning the coronation said: “The claims in a recent article in the Mail on Sunday are baseless.

“Lambeth Palace and Buckingham Palace are in full agreement on all aspects of the coronation and we look forward to sharing more details about the service in the coming weeks.”