November 17, 2008

HRH Charles, Prince of Wales, turned 60 last week.  This makes Prince Charles the longest-living heir to the throne in British history.  It also raises the question of whether he will ever be king.  After all, if Queen Elizabeth II lives only as long as her mother, that means adding another twenty years to her reign.  The Man who Would Be King would then be 80 himself.  The math is not on his side.

Even so, the Prince has been working on changes he proposes to the 1953 Royal Titles Act.  The most significant proposal is this -- Prince Charles, if crowned as King, wants to be known as "Defender of Faith" rather than "Defender of the Faith."  This represents a seismic shift, but it perfectly fits the postmodern Prince.

As The Telegraph [London] reported:

The Prince caused controversy within the Anglican church when he floated the idea several years ago of becoming Defender of the Faiths in an attempt to embrace the other religions in Britain.

In a compromise he has now opted for Defender of Faith which he hopes will unite the different strands of society, and their beliefs, at his Coronation.

The original title, Defender of the Faith, was granted to King Henry VIII in 1521.  Pope Leo X was impressed by King Henry's defense of the Catholic faith against the Lutheran threat, granting him the title as a reward.  King Henry had written The Defense of the Seven Sacraments as an indictment of Martin Luther and his theology.  But, of course, a later pope would have a very different view of Henry VIII after the king broke with Rome and established the Church of England with himself as its supreme head.  Henry VIII and future monarchs would retain the title, "Defender of the Faith," as a seal of their primacy within the Anglican church.

But, of course, this means defending a very specific form of a very specific faith -- the Christian faith.  Pope Leo did not designate Henry VIII as the defender of religion, nor of faith in general (impossible conceptions in the sixteenth century) but as Defender of the Faith.

Prince Charles is, even by the standards of British royalty, something of an odd duck.  When his engagement to Lady Diana Spencer was announced in 1981, the Prince was asked if he was in love with Diana.  Yes, he answered, "whatever that means."  It was not a good sign that Prince Charles evidently did not know what falling in love means.

Now, he desires to be known, as king, as Defender of Faith.  Faith, in other words, "whatever that means."

Some years ago, Prince Charles began to display patterns of thought that are distinctly New Age.  He is known to be influenced by the writings and personal influence of the late Laurens van der Post, a major New Age thinker.  When the Prince of Wales speaks on issues of public importance, he often sounds like a New Age intellectual.  In other words, he is often virtually impossible to understand.