‘Protector of Thy Church and People’: Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Established Church of England
‘Protector of Thy Church and People’: Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Established Church of England

Summary/Abstract: After the death of Her Late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, there was much discussion about her faith and the role it played in her life throughout her long reign. As monarch, she was also the Supreme Governor of the Church of England; a role that has its origins in Henry VIII’s break from Rome and the English Reformation. This paper explores the origins and development of this role, as well as the particular ways in which Queen Elizabeth II inhabited it. It is a historically complex role that must be situated in the context of late-medieval legal, political and philosophical debates about authority, the church and the state. The relationship between monarch and the Church of England was made abundantly clear to the millions of people who watched the Queen’s coronation in 1953; the ritual acts, as well as the vows the Queen made, all point to the monarch’s role in maintaining and defending the place of the Established Church. The Queen’s sense of duty and service, and the desire to live up to the promises she made at her coronation, were a strong principle in her public life. From her Christmas addresses to her quinquennial inauguration of the Church of England’s governing body, the General Synod, Her Late Majesty was motivated by her deep faith and personal convictions

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