OM 89. On being Head of the Church of England.

Dearly Beloved,

When we celebrated 70 years on the throne of Queen Elizabeth II, a worthy celebration of monarchy, that day was also an opportunity to look forward to the royal succession as Her Majesty took the opportunity to raise the standing of the wife of our future King to Queen Consort. The Prince of Wales had a difficult start to married life including an adulterous affair and the death of his Princess of Wales in a car accident. This will raises questions about the suitability of the Prince of Wales to become head of the Church of England and to take the title of Defender of the Faith. Nevertheless, a degree of chaos within personal relationships is common to all of us, and the royal family is no exception.

We do not have to go back to Henry VIII and his six wives, we can look more recently at the behaviour of George IVth and his Queen Consort, Caroline of Brunswick. Although George, as Prince of Wales, was already married to the twice widowed Maria Fitzherbert, he had not asked permission of his father George III so the marriage was void. Maria was a Catholic and had the marriage been allowed, George would have been excluded from the line of succession. That invalid marriage was conducted by Rev. Robert Burt who was released for the purpose from the Fleet Prison after George paid off his debts.

George agreed to marry Caroline of Brunswick with the inducements that his debts would be paid. George and Caroline did not get on and only spent two nights together, although during those two days Caroline conceived a daughter, Charlotte, Princess of Wales. After this the pair went their separate ways and Caroline lived part of that time in Italy. Unfortunately Charlotte died in childbirth and like Henry VIII, George was desperate for an heir and sought various ways to have his marriage to Caroline annulled. One way he attempted to do this was to have Caroline tried in the house of Lords for adultery, specifically with an Italian Bartolomeo Pergami. During the trial the prosecution sought to excuse George's own libertine behaviour whilst vilifying Queen Caroline by claiming that only a woman could commit adultery. The general populous aligned with Caroline in what became known as the Caroline Agitation which was also powered by the conflict around corruption within government, the Corn Laws and the Peterloo Massacre. The trial powered early feminist ideas about the status of women. The Bill failed and was withdrawn before the Commons had an opportunity to reject it.

Finally Queen Caroline was locked out of the Coronation of George IVth much to the indignation of the general populous and she died of an intestinal complaint shortly afterwards complaining that she had been poisoned.

Much as such behaviour must have seemed undesirable in a head of the Church of England, perhaps we should remember Calvin's attitude that the Church is immaculate to the extent it is the body of Christ but is corrupt to the extent that is comprised of men. Why should that not apply to the Head of the Church too? We are indeed a church of sinners.

Peace



Paul


Bill of Pains and Penalties,    Presented on 5 July 1820, with amendments dated 8 November 1820, Parliamentary Archives, HL/PO/JO/10/8/517




"Installation of a Knight Companion of the Bath" In this cartoon, Caroline, Princess of Wales and Bartolomeo Pergami, her head servant, share a bath.  Theodore Lane 1800-1828.   Source: Scanned from Baker, Kenneth (2005). George IV: A Life in Caricature. London: Thames & Hudson.


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