One is, and should be, reluctant to offer advice to His Majesty the King, and it is quite possible that unsolicited counsel is not always easily received. There are, however, some serious difficulties with new language appearing in the Sovereign Grant Annual Report 2025–26, which notes “His Majesty is Supreme Governor of the Church of England and protects the space for Faith within the multi-faith nation”.
Whether originating with HM Treasury, the Royal Household or through consultation between the two, it appears to reflect an attempt to reshape the constitutional and religious understanding of the monarchy in a way that conforms more closely to the idiosyncratic religious map we are often told the King cherishes. No public explanation has accompanied the change. Instead, the revised wording appears unassumingly in the document prepared under the authority of a government department, raising obvious questions about how and why this constitutional description has been altered.
