Coronation should be less Anglican, more secular, report suggests

A less Anglican, more secular coronation for King Charles could "celebrate the nation's diversity", a think tank has said.

In two reports published yesterday, the UCL Constitution Unit said the coronation should "be less overwhelmingly Anglican" and "affirm that the state embraces all of its citizens equally".

"[A] secular ceremony could celebrate the nation's diversity in ways that an Anglican service cannot", it added.

In its current form, the coronation is an overtly religious event: the monarch swears an oath to the Church of England and is anointed with oil by the archbishop of Canterbury in Westminster Abbey.

The Unit cites Wesley Carr, a former Dean of Westminster, who thought the coronation should be accompanied by a secular event at Westminster Hall. Such an event would be, he said, "a suitable way for the Crown to affirm the ethnic and religious plurality to which the social reality points within the continuity that the nation seeks".

In September, the King set out his "respect" for "those who seek to live their lives in accordance with secular ideals".

The coronation oath

The coronation oath requires the monarch to swear to "maintain and preserve inviolably the settlement of the Church of England, and the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government thereof".

The Unit suggest rewording the oath to: "Will you [use] … your power [to] maintain tolerance and freedom, including religious tolerance; and will you seek to uphold the rights of all your Peoples to observe their different religions and beliefs without fear of persecution?"

The report quotes Anglican commentator Paul Bradshaw who find the oath unpalatable: "is there not something rather distasteful about the spectacle of the Archbishop of Canterbury exacting a commitment from the monarch to secure the interests of the Church before proceeding to anoint him/her?"

Young people are particularly likely to find a religious oath "alienating", the Unit added.

The reports follow 2019 polling which found only 35% of the UK public believe the monarch should swear a religious oath. There was equally little support for the requirement that the monarch be a member of the Church of England.

NSS: 'The coronation of a new monarch should serve as a moment of national unity'­­­

The NSS has long called for a secular head of state as broader campaign to disestablish the Church of England.

Its 2017 'Separating Church and State: The Case for Disestablishment' report concluded the accession of then-Prince Charles represented a "particularly opportune moment" to press for disestablishment.

NSS campaigns officer Alejandro Sanchez said: "The investiture of a new head of state should serve as a moment of national unity. An overtly Anglican ceremony coupled with an oath of allegiance to the Church is contrary to that goal.

"The King has said he respects those who live their lives in accordance with secular ideals. It is now time that the coronation be reformulated to reflect the secular, pluralist society that 21^st century Britain is."

Image: Mark Jones from Stradishall, Newmarket, suffolk, CC BY 2.0