Saturday, May 19, 2012

Queen should remain ‘defender of the faith', finds BBC poll

Almost three-quarters of people in the UK think that the Queen should keep her traditional title of "defender of the faith", a poll has suggested.

Some 73 per cent of the 2,591 people polled by Comres for the BBC said that the Queen should continue as Supreme Governor of the Church of England and retain the "defender of the faith" title.

However, half of the respondents agreed with Prince Charles' proposal to change the monarch's title to "defender of faith" when he accedes to the throne.

The Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, warned against changing the monarch's religious 
title. 

He told the BBC that "a political culture which rigidly excludes the voice of faith from rational dialogue in the open" was "one of the ingredients for growing fanaticism".