The coronation of King Charles could cause a "constitutional crisis" because of the fact he is divorced and has previously admitted having an affair while married, a royal author has claimed. Anthony Holden has said that the current coronation oath would need to be changed to account for the fact that the King was unfaithful while married to Princess Diana.
The then Prince of Wales and Diana separated in 1992 - but he was already having an affair with Camilla in 1986, according to a biography endorsed by Charles. In 1994, two years after the separation, Charles himself admitted that he had not been faithful.
Asked if he had remained true to Diana in a documentary about his life, he replied: " Yes, yes… Until it became irretrievably broken down, us both having tried."
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Holden believes that this could cause and issue when Charles is crowned King in a ceremony later this year. In a letter to the Guardian, he wrote: " The Church of England has never crowned a divorced man as King, let alone one who has publicly confessed to adultery – with the relevant woman expecting to be crowned Queen Consort.
"The late Robert Runcie [the former Archbishop of Canterbury] told me this would require a revision of the coronation oath, which would require a new statute of Parliament.
"Given the convention that Parliament does not debate the monarchy without the monarch's consent, this would require the Prime Minister to seek King Charles's permission. This, Runcie told me, would amount to a constitutional crisis."
But other royal experts have disputed the claims. Barrister Geoffrey Robertson KC added: "The coronation is a legal irrelevance, just a silly and superstitious Church of England ritual. Charles has no need at all to be crowned by a minority church."
And Sir Vernon Bogdanor, a research professor at King's College London's Centre for British Politics and Government, told the Mail on Sunday: "Charles and Camilla's wedding was followed by a Service of Prayer and Dedication, led by Archbishop Rowan Williams. This surely overrides anything Robert Runcie may or may not have said."
Charles' coronation will take place on Saturday, May 6, in a ceremony that will also see Camilla crowned Queen Consort. The Palace said the ceremony will be "rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry" but also "reflect the monarch’s role today and look towards the future", the Mirror reports .
Certain core elements of the coronation ceremony will remain as they have been for over 1,000 years, but the event will also recognise the spirit of our times. A Lambeth Palace spokesperson said: "We cannot comment on accounts of a private conversation that Archbishop Robert Runcie may have had while he was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1980-1991.
"But clearly much has changed since that time - both in society and in the Church of England. The current Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, is looking forward to the great honour of crowning King Charles III and the Queen Consort in May this year.
"Across the Church of England we continue to pray for the King and the Queen Consort as they prepare for this important moment in the life of our nation and the Commonwealth."
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