The Queen's Churchgoing Habits

[Denville]

Since the CoE is the established state church in England, it is natural that the Royal Family should regularly attend CoE services associated with official public celebrations (like the RAF Centenary or Commonwealth Remembrance days). What is being discussed in this forum, however, is whether royals attend regular church services as private citizens and not in connection with any official function. I think the overall impression is that the Queen does,.

Yes, she is a regular church goer and a devout Christian...

 

[An Ard Ri]

The most frequently used churches by Her Majesty the Queen for Sunday Church Services are :

St George's Chapel Windsor
St. Mary Magdalene Church,Sandringham
Crathie Kirk Church ,Balmoral in Scotland
St Mary the Virgin Hillington near Sandringham

I'm sure there are a few others

 

[tommy100]

Charles is IMO the most regular church goer bar the Queen. Wasn’t it Paul Burrell (can’t stand him but hey) who said Charles would have an alter set up at home to pray at while Diana could never see the point if they weren’t at a church. He also has a number of friends (so called or actual who knows) who are ministers etc.

I’ve had the impression Andrew may attend church at windsor as a way to see his mother (which doesn’t say much about his own faith) and the fact the Royal Chapel of All saints is basically in his front garden at Royal Lodge.

 

[Curryong]

Where does the Queen attend Church services when she is in London and at BP? Or Charles at Clarence House, for that matter as he too regularly attends church.

I think the Chapel at Buckingham Palace was destroyed by a bomb during the war and the space afterwards converted to something else, so there's no private place of worship in the Palace any more. I suppose the Queen could attend services at St James Chapel but I've never read of her doing so.

 

[Lumutqueen]

My understanding is The Queen is always at Windsor at the weekend, therefore St George’s Chapel. Even if she happens to be at BP on a Sunday, Windsor is 40 minutes away.

However I might be wrong in that she doesn’t got to a church near London.

 

[Lady Marlboro]

I was under the impression that the church she attends most Sundays at Windsor is the Royal Chapel of All Saints partly for privacy and partly to avoid causing disruption for regular worshipers at St George's Chapel. She will attend St George's for Easter and Christmas back when they stayed at Windsor for Christmas.

 

[QueenMathilde]

I'll be interested to see who goes with the Queen to Easter service.

 

[Iluvbertie]

Probably the usual crowd - the Wessex's, Anne and her children, maybe the Linley's and Chatto's, the York's and maybe the Cambridge's.

Charles and Camilla will be, as usual, in Scotland. The Cambridge's maybe in Norfolk. Otherwise I would expect the rest to attend (Andrew may give the 'public' side of attending a miss but I would be surprised if he didn't attend as Easter Sunday is a mandatory day to attend communion in the CoE as is Christmas Day which is why he was seen attending the communion service but not the later matins service).

 

[Dalriada]

Thank God, Queen Elizabeth, Scotland’s sovereign is never at home in Scotland for the Christian feast of Christmas as celebrated in her Church of England: Christmas in Scotland was traditionally observed very quietly, because the Church of Scotland – a Presbyterian church – for various blatant anti catholic and anti English reasons.

In “miserable” Scotland Christmas Day only became a public holidays in 1958 in Scotland and Boxing Day in 1974.The pagan New Year's Eve festivity, Hogmanay, was by far the largest celebration in Scotland. Anglican Christians are a tiny minority in Scotland so HM has to make do with those cold kirks around Balmoral in August-September.

 

[An Ard Ri]

I'll be interested to see who goes with the Queen to Easter service.

The Queen traditionally attends Easter Sunday Service at St George's chapel ,Windsor and its normally all family event.

 

[HereditaryPrincess]

I think the Wessexes seem to be quite regular churchgoers too. They always seem to be with HM the most when they're staying at Sandringham, and I think Edward has been photographed going to church with HM during their private visits to Windsor. Of course this could just be to accompany HM, though.

 

[An Ard Ri]

The Countess in particular seems to attend church with her mother in law

 

[Iluvbertie]

The Queen traditionally attends Easter Sunday Service at St George's chapel ,Windsor and its normally all family event.

Except for Charles and Camilla who spend Easter in Scotland.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Except for Charles and Camilla who spend Easter in Scotland.

Which church do Charles and Camilla attend on Easter Sunday?

 

[Iluvbertie]

It isn't always revealed - sometimes Craithie Church where the Queen goes when at Balmoral.

As it isn't an official engagement for any of the royals where they go isn't always covered by the media.

Last year, for instance, the media only focussed on Harry attending solo at Windsor (Meghan was heavily pregnant at the time of course) and there was no coverage of where Charles and Camilla went.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Iluvbertie, Thank you for mentioning that the church schedule is not always publicized. If it was, would the congregation only attend the service at the church to see the Royals or to worship the Lord?

 

[Iluvbertie]

Generally the churches that the royals attend are ones where the regular parishioners continue to worship but it is harder for a stranger to simply turn up.

I once went to The Queen's Chapel at St James' - by accident - and I asked if any of the royals ever attend that chapel and was told 'yes' and so I asked would I have been able to attend if they were present and was told 'maybe'. They would have asked some questions - such as by beliefs to confirm that I was there to worship and not simply to gawk.

 

[tommy100]

I imagine, in regards to the Sandringham Church, St Mary Magdalene's (and possibly Craithie Church at Balmoral) most of the worshippers are estate employees or residents of estate properties who attend regularly so its not too hard to distinguish between actual worshippers and gawkers.

 

[Durham]

I'm not sure where this should go but Sheffield Anglican Cathedral is to disband its choir. I wonder what HM would think of this. It's very sad.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...field-cathedral-choir-strikes-discordant-note

I think the cathedral authorities trying to justify this cultural vandalism under the banner of diversity is pretty contemptible & disingenuous. Listen to what is being destoyed.

 

[Heavs]

That is sad. I wonder if it's also to do with money and possibly thinking it will get more bums on seats. Lots of Cathedral choirs were struggling anyway and have lost a lot of income as well as not being able to sing for a while to come as well.

Several Cathedrals I know have "diverse modern Anglican music" groups, choirs, services as well as the traditional choir. And those singing in the "traditional choir" are definitely not all white either. There are plenty of large churches where you can here worship music for hours on end, I'm not sure Cathedrals should join them - at least regularly.

 

[Durham]

It would be fine if they retained the choir & had another more modern one as well.

The Anglican choral tradition is one of the great treasures of England if not Europe. And linked very much with royal history too.

 

[Alison H]

Was it Norwich Cathedral where they decided to put a giant helter skelter in the nave to "encourage new perspectives" ?! Each to their own but, if I want to go on a helter skelter, I'll go to a fairground. In the same way, if you go to a cathedral, surely you want to hear cathedral music.

 

[Iluvbertie]

It is decisions like this that is why the CoE is becoming more and more irrelevant in England. Trying to be 'relevant' isn't getting people to go to church.

Where I am there are a group of former CoE who now worship privately together due to the CoE going to such a 'modern' and 'relevant' stand that it has lost its actual message. Many others I know have gone to another religion altogether - one that hasn't gone down the 'modern' and 'relevant' route but is the fastest growing religion in the world.

 

[Countessmeout]

I get changing denominations like going Catholic or some other protestant branch but a different religion??? That seems an extreme leap to change your whole religious view because you found the Anglican church is too 'modern'.

I get the annoyance. I am as modern as most, but when I go to church I like a formal mass and traditional music. I have never liked attending my cousin's church which makes it feel more like a pop concert at times with religious words in the songs. If I go to a cathedral, I expect traditional music.

Its a Christian church of England. Its going to appeal to a certain group of people, not so much immigrants from other cultural and likely at least denominational backgrounds if not religion. Should they encourage children of all backgrounds to join the choir? Of course. But no need to go into some different non choral route to draw them in.

 

[MARG]

Well I find myself in the same position as you Iluvbertie. We find ourselves worshipping from the 1662 prayer book. The modern one was facile but with the coming of babies crying and none taken out to settle down and preschoolers given the run of the Sanctuary as sacristant, I spent the entire service waiting for one of them to grab the altar cloth and bring the whole lot down. Too nervewracking by far.

 

[HereditaryPrincess]

My CofE church struggles normally with trying to attract new worshippers; but during lockdown they've actually got more people on the Zoom services than they would normally. I think the church as a whole definitely needs to find more ways of attracting a wider range of people - it's not that people don't go to church anymore - more "modern" churches such as Hillsong and others have a huge following, and have their services in former cinemas and stadiums that are often almost full.

 

[Heavs]

I agree with that, I'm just not sure trying to turn a Cathedral into Holy Trinity Brompton (Sheffield branch) (to take an example of a very modern, very well known and popular CofE church) is the answer either.

You can keep the choir (and the vestments, actual Eucharist etc) and also include other styles of music as well or create different services aimed at younger/different groups.

Hillsong, Kensington Temple and others also often end up kind of fundamentalist in a completely different way to the Anglo-Catholic end of the spectrum.

I've found the Dean of Canterbury's morning prayer has been excellent in lockdown and seems to have attracted a lot of viewers.

 

[HereditaryPrincess]

I agree with that, I'm just not sure trying to turn a Cathedral into Holy Trinity Brompton (Sheffield branch) (to take an example of a very modern, very well known and popular CofE church) is the answer either.

You can keep the choir (and the vestments, actual Eucharist etc) and also include other styles of music as well or create different services aimed at younger/different groups.

Hillsong, Kensington Temple and others also often end up kind of fundamentalist in a completely different way to the Anglo-Catholic end of the spectrum.

I've found the Dean of Canterbury's morning prayer has been excellent in lockdown and seems to have attracted a lot of viewers.

I don’t either. I was making an example of what a lot of younger worshippers like. I could never imagine Westminster Abbey as a concert hall

 

[Somebody]

While I do agree that the choral tradition is a beautiful one (especially for vespers etc not so much for Sunday worship), I don't think it they are the 'essence' of church: the essence should be the content not the package.

But others fear modernisation could jettison centuries-old traditions they believe are the essence of the church: choral music, clerical dress, ancient buildings, rituals and liturgy.

Source: The Guardian article previously linked

 

[Alison H]

Apparently, the Queen will be attending services at Crathie Kirk when she goes to Balmoral, but will probably be wearing a mask. I'm not quite sure why "the Queen will probably wear a mask to church" needs to be in the news, but, hey, maybe pictures of Her Majesty wearing a mask will make people realise that masks are for everyone's safety.