This was published 1 year ago
Opinion
How we removed Defender of the Faith from the monarch’s CV
Warwick McFadyen
ContributorAs you read this, Australia will have had bestowed upon it a new king, Charles III.
As monarch of the United Kingdom, Charles carries this description: “Charles the Third, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of His other Realms and Territories King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith”.
As King of Australia, however, “defender of the faith” he is not.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of its removal from our realm Down Under. The prime mover was Gough Whitlam. (Canada has only recently followed suit.)
When Whitlam came to office Australia had on its books the Royal Style and Titles Act 1953, which declared Elizabeth II “by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom, Australia and Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith”.
While on a visit to Australia, the Queen put her signature to this altered style: “Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of Australia and Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth.”
The coronation of Elizabeth II occurred on June 2, 1953. When Whitlam addressed parliament 20 years later on May 1, he said the previous wording “concerned me and my government that it is not now sufficiently distinctively Australian ... It is our view that one of the ancient references – Defender of the Faith – has no historical or constitutional relevance in Australia.”
To put it mildly.
The use of the term goes back to the early 1500s, when it was conferred upon Henry VIII by Pope Leo X for Henry’s work Defence of the Seven Sacraments against Martin Luther. Basically, it was a reward for Henry taking up the Catholic Church’s fight against the early Protestants.
But when the same Pope wouldn’t allow Henry to dissolve his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, he formed the Church of England with himself as its head. Problem solved. He also amassed quite a bit of wealth from the confiscation of church land and monasteries.
The Pope, not surprisingly, was miffed. He cut the king loose and revoked the title Defender of the Faith. No matter - the English parliament just framed the title to be of the Anglican Church, where it has remained, appearing on British coins these days in the abbreviated form “FD” (for the Latin Fidei Defensor, or in Elizabeth’s case Defensatrix).
It is a title that will be Charles III’s. But not in Australia.
Fifty years ago, Whitlam initiated another break. In April 1973, he began the process of the nation finding an anthem to replace God Save the Queen. A year later we began singing Advance Australia Fair. As a piece of music it’s not great, but it’s ours.