King Charles turns to Archbishop for spiritual counsel – and help with Prince Harry
King Charles’ secret confidante is a non-royal who is helping him with Harry and giving him pre-coronation guidance.
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It is the unheralded friendship between the highest ranking non-royal in the United Kingdom and the highest-ranking royal.
Discreetly, in recent years, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has been King Charles III’s unofficial right hand man.
It is the outspoken clergyman he turns to for spiritual and religious guidance – often in times of crisis and often in preference to his inner circle of highly-paid advisers and assistants.
“The King has enjoyed a very close relationship with the Archbishop of Canterbury. Since the 50th anniversary of him becoming Prince of Wales (in 2019), and since becoming King, they have become closer and are spending a lot of time rehearsing for the coronation at Buckingham Palace,” royal author and writer Robert Jobson said.
King Charles follows a century’s-old pattern of monarchs turning to the lead Bishop for counsel.
“The Queen enjoyed a very close relationship with the Archbishop of Canterbury but he and the King became close around the time Charles became Prince of Wales, when the Archbishop spoke very eloquently and movingly at his ceremony at Buckingham Palace,” Mr Jobson said.
“The Archbishop is (now) giving the King spiritual guidance to understand the Christian underpinning of the coronation ceremony in private sessions. As supreme governor of the Church of England, the king must have a relationship with the Archbishop.”
Before Welby assumed the role in 2013, the King sought counsel from former Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie over his crumbling marriage to Princess Diana.
He later called on the former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey for a public blessing for him to marry his lifetime love Camilla in 2004.
“He is heir to the throne and he loves her,” Carey said in an interview with The Times, adding, “The natural thing is that they should get married.”
And the King consulted former Bishop of London, Lord Richard Chartres, on whether Prince William should spend a gap year before going to St Andrews University.
King Charles and Welby talk regularly.
The 74-year-old has told friends he supports the Archbishop’s political activism, including his peace pilgrimage to war-torn Sudan in February with Pope Francis.
“The King is hopeful the visit to Sudan highlighted the cries of the South Sudanese people who suffer from conflict and famine, and is hopeful the Archbishop can tackle the thorny issue of Prince Harry coming to the coronation,” said royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams.
“Charles shares his mother’s faith, although more naturally high church, and has an interest in eastern Orthodox Christianity and non-Christian faiths.
“He is talking to the Archbishop and remains optimistic.”
Welby will deliver the Coronation service at Westminster Abbey on May 6, in the same way Archbishops of Canterbury have done for monarchs before him.
But the 69-year-old has been entrusted with far more than the responsibility of the day’s proceedings: to strike a much-needed peace deal between the King and his son Prince Harry.
“(Charles) loves Harry dearly, despite everything that has happened (with his controversial memoir Spare), and so does Camilla, she wants him there (at the Coronation) for Charles,” a royal source said.
“The Archbishop has seen how saddened the King is about Harry saying he will not attend. He is determined to fix it, but there are some sticking points; the seating arrangements and whether the children attend.
“They’re still deciding on a course of action.”
Royal insiders say Welby’s diplomacy skills are having some sway in convincing the King’s “darling boy” and wife Meghan Markle to come, from their US base of Montecito, but discussions on seating arrangements and a demand to appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony are sticking points.
Mr Jobson, whose book Our King: Charles III: The Man is published on May 3, confirmed “the King has told him of his wish for Prince Harry to attend”.
Welby – who is fighting his own battle among Anglicans, angry over a decision to allow clergy to bless couples in same-sex marriages – last played peacemaker in September after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, bringing together the warring Prince of Wales and Duke and Duchess of Sussex, albeit briefly.
A few months later, after the Sussexes’ Netflix docu-series, he was forced to clarify their only legal marriage ceremony was at Windsor Castle, not the secret one at Kensington Palace Gardens which Ms Markle had claimed.
But he did so in a dignified, loyal manner.
“We have unrealistic expectations when it comes to royals, we expect them to be superhuman …,” Welby said.
“Being a royal is like serving life without parole.”
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