Cultural historian says King Charles’s visit to Vatican remarkable, shifts focus from Prince Andrew scandal

ABC NEWS (Australia)

King Charles has arrived at the Vatican for a two-day state visit, where he'll meet and pray with Catholic leader Pope Leo. The historic moment will be the first time a British monarch and pontiff have prayed together at a church service in centuries. Cultural historian Cindy McCreery says both leaders have long advocated to bridge the gap between Christian denominations.

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00:00As a historian, I can say this is truly remarkable, and many Anglicans and Catholics around the

00:06world will be scratching their heads at this.

00:09The thought that the head of the Anglican Church, namely the king, is visiting a pope

00:14when under British law no Catholic may inherit the British throne, and it's only since 2013

00:20that a member of the royal family can marry a Roman Catholic, shows just how great the

00:25divide is between these two churches.

00:28On the other hand, what we can say is that both the pope and the king have had longstanding

00:32interest in planning this meeting, and I think we need to be careful about suggesting that

00:37this is in any way an immediate response to the Prince Andrew scandal.

00:41State visits take a long time in planning.

00:43They're planned by governments, not individuals, and more importantly, both the pope and the

00:48king have had a longstanding interest in ecumenical dialogue, in getting people, different Christians

00:54from different groups, to come closer together.

00:56And this is a result of years and years of effort in that direction.

01:00It's symbolic, it's historic, this display of unity between the Church of England and

01:04the Catholic Church.

01:06You mentioned that some people in the church are scratching their heads about this, but

01:10how is it being perceived by the world?

01:13Look, I think that the, as you've suggested, and the coverage shows that people are at the

01:17moment thinking about the king in relation to Prince Andrew.

01:20However, if we look back to the coronation of Charles in 2023, we see his commitment there

01:26to interfaith dialogue.

01:27He included not just members of the Christian Church, of the Anglican Church, including the

01:32Archbishop-elect Sarah Mullally, who was there in her capacity as Bishop of London, but also

01:36representatives of other faiths in Britain.

01:38And that was seen as a very personal choice on behalf of the king, really signalling his

01:43intention to take interfaith dialogue further.

01:46And this visit really, I think, extends that commitment.

01:49However, as you've noted, I think the eyes of the world are on Andrew and on the problems

01:54to do with the royal family and its relationship with the state.

01:57As you mentioned, this comes as the backdrop of these, as the scandal surrounding Prince

02:03Andrew, just how much do you think that the royal family is looking and hoping to shift

02:10focus?

02:11Could this trip do that at all?

02:14I think they hope it will.

02:16I very much doubt it can achieve that.

02:18It's a short visit.

02:19And I think the impetus on a lot of media organisations, but also public interest, is in the Andrew issue.

02:25However, I think we need to be careful here.

02:28I think in some ways, this current reign has inherited a problem that began in the previous

02:33reign.

02:33I'm not just alluding to Andrew's alleged activities, which, of course, we must remember

02:38he's never been charged in a court of law, let alone convicted of, and has always strangely

02:42denied.

02:43But nevertheless, it's clear that his mother, Queen Elizabeth, was very protective of him.

02:47And I suspect that a lot of the funding he received that has been used for his housing,

02:52in fact, came as a private bequest from his mother or funding from his mother.

02:56That's something that the current king has to deal with.

02:58And of course, questions are being raised about how much the current monarch knew.

03:02But I think it's fair to point out that Charles may not have had as much ability to manoeuvre

03:06in the previous reign.

03:08And a lot of this may, in fact, reflect the values of the previous monarch rather than the

03:12current monarch.

03:13I think both Charles and the editor of the throne, William, are really clear that they want

03:17this to be resolved fairly, that they agree with the need for an investigation, and that

03:23they will support that.

03:25Whether that's possible, we'll see.

03:26Just how public that investigation may be, may be out of their hands.

03:31It's reached the parliament.

03:33We know that the UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, is supporting calls for a parliamentary

03:38inquiry into Andrew's Royal Lodge lease.

03:42Just how problematic could that be for the royal family?

03:46It's hugely problematic, Kath, because it's not just about the lease of this one residence.

03:50It actually raises a larger issue that many people have been criticising, including Liberal

03:55Democrat politicians, namely the status of royal finance and the fact that through the

04:00Duchy of Lancaster and the Duchy of Cornwall, both the monarch, King Charles, and the heir

04:03to the throne, William, have access to millions and millions of pounds of funding that is not

04:09taxed.

04:10So this is a much larger scandal or problem, if you will.

04:13And it may well be that this particular focus on Andrew and Royal Lodge opens up more attention

04:18to what is really a much bigger issue.

04:22How hard might this be for the parliament to investigate?

04:26You may or may not understand parliamentary inquiries, but I believe that any questions

04:32that, and I'll quote, cast reflections on the sovereignty of the royal family are generally

04:37not allowed to be asked and are ruled inadmissible.

04:40Look, that's right.

04:43And the other thing is that there has historically been a lot of deference to the royal family,

04:46particularly the monarch.

04:47And there's absolutely a commitment on behalf of the government not to do anything that

04:50would be seen to be embarrassing to the monarch.

04:53And I think that's why we can see what politicians are doing is going to the press and really putting

04:58pressure on Andrew and suggesting that he really should, as he has indicated in the past,

05:02he might actually speak to his authorities voluntarily.

05:05But I don't think we're going to see police cars rushing into Royal Lodge and arresting

05:10or asking Andrew to come down to the station.

05:13That, I think, is a bridge too far and I think does reflect the particular privilege and status

05:18that members of the royal family continue to have in Britain.

05:20Oh, thank you.

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