Royal historian Alexander Lamon has questioned King Charles's decision to reference other religions in his Easter message, suggesting it was not the appropriate "time and place" for such mentions.Speaking to GB News, Lamon acknowledged the King's "sincere interest in other religions" but expressed reservations about including Judaism and Islam in what is traditionally a Christian message.READ THE FULL STORY HERE
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00:00Now, King Charles has praised the ethics of Judaism and the human instinct of Islam in his Christian Easter message.
00:08Yes. His Majesty is known to have a passion for promoting strong interfaith relations in the United Kingdom.
00:14But the move will undoubtedly come as a bit of a surprise to some, given that he is the head of the Church of England.
00:19Indeed, the Supreme Governor.
00:21But this comes as the King attends the Maundy Thursday service at Durham Cathedral, a beautiful cathedral, might I add,
00:27at which he will distribute the so-called Maundy money.
00:32So there we go. Well, let's discuss this with royal historian Alexander Laman, who's with us in the studio.
00:37Thank you, Alexander.
00:39What should we make of this Christian Easter message that he goes out of his way to mention other religions?
00:45Well, it's funny because I actually looked at his previous Easter message from last year and it's much more conventional
00:50because bear in mind then, he'd just been diagnosed with cancer and his daughter-in-law had just been diagnosed with cancer.
00:56So, as you can imagine, there was a slightly downbeat tone to it.
01:00But this year, it seems very strange because at first glance, as you say, he is the king,
01:06he's the defender of the Christian faith, he is the most high-profile Christian figure we have in the country,
01:12apart perhaps from the Archbishop of Canterbury, and that's a vacant position at the moment.
01:16But you would have expected a very straightforward message, and some of the message is quite straightforward.
01:22I mean, you can call it the all-you-need-is-love message.
01:24But then, as you say, the shout-outs to Judaism and Islam, you think, well, why has he done that?
01:29Now, on the one hand, I think Charles does have a sincere interest in other religions.
01:34This isn't just some sort of bizarre thing he's been roped into saying.
01:37But what you can't help wondering is, was this really the time and the place?
01:41Because ultimately, Easter has a special significance for Christian faith, not for the Jewish faith or the Islamic faith.
01:48And you think to yourself, what exactly is it?
01:51Because you might think it was sheer wokery, you might think it was simply Charles wanting to make it clear that it's about everyone
01:58and indeed nobody at the same time.
02:00But then, I think there's something else to it, isn't there?
02:03It's Charles, once again, exhibiting this very individualistic sensibility, which I think he's tried to show ever since he became monarch.
02:09He's tried to say, I am my own man.
02:12I'm going to say and do things that might not have been expected from a monarch before,
02:16because there is no way the Queen would have ever done this.
02:19And you can see that in this recognition of other faiths, I mean, on the one hand, you must commend him for it.
02:24You must commend him for the idea of reaching out to other religions
02:28and recognising that Britain is a more multicultural country of multicultural faiths.
02:32We saw that nodded to in the coronation, where there were the leading figures from all the faiths there.
02:36But, unlike speculation before the coronation, he didn't change that famous line in the coronation oath,
02:44defender of the faith.
02:45There was speculation he wanted to change that to defender of the faiths,
02:49but that was a step too far for the powers that be.
02:52And yet, it's strange.
02:54When he speaks about other religions and gives messages on the holy days of other religions' calendars,
03:02he doesn't have to cram in every other faith to those ones.
03:05Well, what I was upset by is, where's the Gnostic faith?
03:08Where's the Zoroastrian faith?
03:09And that's what I thought was really unfair,
03:11because there are people in this country who will practise other faiths.
03:14And just to single out two seems rather special treatment, doesn't it?
03:19And you think to yourself, well, if you're going to do this, then you have to do it more sincerely.
03:24And so I think that, in fact, as ever with Charles, there's a sense that there's a good idea,
03:30then there's a sort of half-achievement about how it's attained.
03:34And then we're sitting here saying, well, why did he do it?
03:36So, Alexander, we can put that to our viewers.
03:39Say, is King Charles trying to be woke, or is he trying to be edgy with this?
03:44Yes, that's essentially what it boils down to, could be one of those two things,
03:47or a combination of both.
03:49Alexander Laman, thank you very much indeed for coming into the studio
03:51to discuss the King's Easter message.
03:54Absolutely.