King Charles iii continues to fundamentally transform the British throne’s role in religion. On June 25, Buckingham Palace published its finances in the Sovereign Grant Annual Report and Accounts 2025–26. This report outlined a significant change in the constitutional role of the King.

“The Official Duties of the Sovereign” section outlines the three main constitutional roles: head of state, head of the nation and head of the Commonwealth. In the “Head of State” subsection, the document redefines King Charles’s role in national religion: “His majesty is supreme governor of the Church of England and protects the space for faith within the multi-faith nation.”

This replaces “defender of the faith” with “protects the space for faith within the multi-faith nation.” This politically correct word salad is not only offensive to the English language, but it also represents a tragic milestone in the decline of the British royal family.

This is more than a symbolic change. King Charles’s actions affect the legal and sovereign integrity of the British nation and Commonwealth.

The “Defender of the Faith” title was given to King Henry viii in 1521 by Pope Leo x for the British king’s defense of the pope against Martin Luther. In the coming years, this reversed as King Henry realized that the only way Britain could have national sovereignty and political freedom was to separate from the authority of the Catholic Church. The British throne became a bulwark against the political and cultural designs of the papal throne on protestant Britain by becoming the supreme head of the Church of England. “Defender of the Faith”—a singular faith—came to define the monarch’s constitutional role.

This bulwark was primarily designed to protect Britain from the Catholic Church and Holy Roman Empire. Some believe that is no longer necessary, that the Holy Roman Empire is a medieval construct that died. But Bible prophecy shows that is not the case (read our book The Holy Roman Empire in Prophecy for proof).

It seems King Charles always had designs to change this role in the monarchy. In a 1994 interview with Johnathan Dimbleby, then Prince Charles said he wanted to change the title from “Defender of the Faith” to “Defender of Faith,” making it nonspecific and more inclusive. The statement was overshadowed because in the same interview Charles admitted to having an affair while still married to Princess Diana.

When Charles was crowned in 2023, the ceremony featured a procession of faith leaders, including representatives for Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs. Non-Christian members of the House of Lords passed regalia to the King during the ceremony, which was another break with tradition.

“The coronation ceremony reflects Charles’s efforts to show that the 1,000-year-old monarchy is still relevant in a country that is much more diverse than it was when his mother was crowned 70 years ago,” wrote gpb shortly before the coronation. “While the King is the supreme governor of the Church of England, the latest census showed that less than half of the population now describe themselves as Christian.”

King Charles’s most provocative act was going to Rome to pray with Pope Leo xiv in the Sistine Chapel on Oct. 23, 2025. It was an official visit by the King of Britain, as head of state for the United Kingdom and Commonwealth and of the Anglican Church. King Charles symbolically wore two crowns during the visit. Pope Leo also symbolically wore two crowns: one as absolute monarch over Vatican City and the other as head of the Catholic Church. This was not only a religious event but also a political one. It was a reconciliation between two thrones, each wearing two crowns—wielding political and religious authority.

Another symbolic moment was when King Charles was named confrater (“brother” in Latin), a designation that makes official his fellowship with Catholicism. Becoming patron of St. Paul’s and being made a confrater is an important step for the British royal family to be reaccepted into the Catholic fraternity of nations.

This single act reversed 500 years of the English Reformation and 500 years of British constitutional traditions.

Why does this matter? Why should you care?

The British royal family is different from any other in Europe. The late Herbert W. Armstrong explained in The United States and Britain in Prophecy that the British royal family was the dynasty of King David, to whom God had promised that there would always be a descendant sitting on that throne (Jeremiah 33:17). The throne of David is the same throne Jesus Christ will return to and rule from in the Kingdom of God (Isaiah 9:6-7; Luke 1:30-33), the realization of the scepter promise (Genesis 49:10).

Yet the British royal family has utterly failed to live up to this exalted destiny. It has often led the nation in moral depravity and has done little to halt the self-destruction of the British Empire. In nearly every woke cause, the radical left has firm allies in the British royal family. These failings led God Himself to intervene and change the British throne on Jan. 16, 2017. The British royal family no longer sits on David’s throne. This important change is explained in Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry’s book The New Throne of David.

Since this change happened in 2017, the British royal family has been in steep decline. King Charles’s crusade to be a sovereign for all faiths is merely the latest tragic chapter.

His actions will have far-reaching effects. All three of his constitutional roles are compromised by his compromise on religion. It may yet compromise the future of the English-speaking peoples.

The Church of England has never followed what the Bible teaches, but its one redeeming quality was its rejection of papal authority. With that shattered, the Anglican Church is just a diversity-equity-inclusion spectacle that is an affront to the name of God.

As head of the nation, Charles is failing to be the anchor for British traditions against an avalanche of religious turmoil. Britain is becoming a hotbed of anti-Semitism. Sections of Britain are ruled by Sharia law. The British people have suffered from Muslim rape gangs for decades, with thousands of victims, yet the King protects the spaces for Muslims while doing nothing for justice for the poor female victims.

As head of state, Charles has opened the door for a Catholic-dominated Europe to exert far more influence in British politics. As the office of prime minister becomes a revolving door, the King is strengthening the institutional strength of the pope over his own nation.

As head of the Commonwealth, Charles has compromised the Commonwealth nations. Is it a coincidence that following the change to his constitutional duty to protect “the faith,” Canada, Australia and New Zealand have all begun seeking associate membership status with the European Union?

Mr. Armstrong wrote in The United States and Britain in Prophecy: “Soon Britain’s empire spread around the world until the sun never set upon her possessions. Canada, Australia, South Africa were given dominion status—made free and independent nations, ruling themselves independent of England—a company, or commonwealth, of nations joined together, not by legal government, but solely by the throne of David!”

The British royal family is no longer the throne of David. Will that lead to the Commonwealth disintegrating or being hijacked by the European Union, the embryo of the prophesied Holy Roman Empire?

Isaiah 9 is a dynamic, inspiring prophecy about how Jesus Christ will soon return to Earth and sit on the throne of David, using God’s government to solve all the problems of this world! Verses 6 and 7 read:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Jesus Christ will not be the “protector of religious spaces”—He will be the DEFENDER of THE FAITH, the one true religion of the Bible, using zeal, judgment and justice! Christ will enforce obedience to the law of God, the truths of the Bible, spearheading mankind’s education in the way of God’s love and the way of give. This is what will bring unity and utopia to this Earth. It is this throne upholding God’s law that will solve all the problems of mankind!

Could Jesus Christ return to a throne that champions “religious spaces” and family dysfunction? The reign of King Charles iii is the direct opposite of Isaiah 9:6-7! For God’s rule to be established on the throne of David, a change had to be made from the declining, degenerate dynasty in Great Britain. It is tragic to see a family with such an illustrious history decline, but it is inspiring to think about the transcendent future that awaits the new throne of David! That is where we can anchor our hope.

Please read our free book The New Throne of David to fill your life with hope for the future.