Is Camilla a Catholic?

[sm1939]

I was whatching this programme last night on channel Five ,
that said that camilla was a catholic, I thought the Prince wouldnt be allowed to marry a catholic ? am I wrong in both of these statements???

 

[Jo of Palatine]

I was whatching this programme last night on channel Five ,
that said that camilla was a catholic, I thought the Prince wouldnt be allowed to marry a catholic ? am I wrong in both of these statements???

Whatever Camilla and Charles may be believing in in private, officially they are both CoE. And yes, you're right, if Camilla was a Catholic, Charles as her husband would loose his right to the throne.

 

[Henri M.]

I was whatching this programme last night on channel Five ,
that said that camilla was a catholic, I thought the Prince wouldnt be allowed to marry a catholic ? am I wrong in both of these statements???

Camilla Rosemary Windsor-Mountbatten née Shand formerly Parker Bowles is Anglican.

In her first marriage she was married to Andrew Parker Bowles, who is a Roman-Catholic. Her children Tom and Laura Parker Bowles were raised Roman-Catholic and did attend Roman-Catholic primary schools. After this Tom attended Eton, while Laura attended a Roman-Catholic convent school in Shaftesbury (Saint Mary's Convent).

Camilla however remained faithful to the Church of England and did not convert to the Church of Rome. So she is no Roman-Catholic.

 

[sm1939]

Thank you for the information,
the TV programme made out that she was roman Catholic from birth. anyway
now I know the truth. once again thanks

 

[wymanda]

the TV programme made out that she was roman Catholic from birth./quote]

Obviously one of those many programs which set out to denigrate our wonderful Duchess and spread lies about her.

 

[Jo of Palatine]

the TV programme made out that she was roman Catholic from birth./quote]

Obviously one of those many programs which set out to denigrate our wonderful Duchess and spread lies about her.

Hey, hey, hey - I was a Roman Catholic by birth - that's not soooooo bad. I mean, I'm not longer a member so for me it wasn't "it" but still....

 

[CarolMR]

Denigrate? I didn't know the British are so biased against Roman Catholics!

 

[BeatrixFan]

Oh yes. We even eat them sometimes.

 

[marlene]

Dear Wymanda,
I think you owe the Roman Catholics in the forum an apology for your comment, I'm going to assume you didn't mean to be so disrespectful.

 

[BeatrixFan]

I think what Wymanda meant was that this was a programme intended to make her seem unfit for Royal service, I don't think she meant any slur on Catholics at all.

 

[bbb]

Oh yes. We even eat them sometimes.

laugh outloud post of the day

either they were wrong in their facts (which the media seems to be alot these days) or malicious and trying to cause trouble for the duchess. stirring up a religious question to add fire to the debate of camilla becoming queen. it's a low blow and dispicable if it was done for that purpose.

 

[Empress]

Play nice ladies. I am sure that no one meant any harm by any of their posts, and I am sure that wymanda was not out to slur any religion.

 

[HRH Kerry]

Definitely an err in reporting. The BRF couldn't possibly cover-up Prince Charles marrying an catholic without stating he would renounce his rights to the thrown.

 

[Elspeth]

laugh outloud post of the day

either they were wrong in their facts (which the media seems to be alot these days) or malicious and trying to cause trouble for the duchess. stirring up a religious question to add fire to the debate of camilla becoming queen. it's a low blow and dispicable if it was done for that purpose.

There was a lot of talk about it at the time the Prince married Camilla. Some people had heard something about Catholic, not realised that it was only Andrew Parker-Bowles and not both of them who were Catholic, and starting going on about how Charles shouldn't be marrying a Catholic (and some of course were gleefully announcing that he'd have to give up his position in the line of succession, serve him right, etc etc). And you know how it is on the Internet - someone makes an authoritative and dead wrong statement, and it's out there for other people to read and believe.

It would be against the law for Charles to have married a Catholic and retained his position in the line of succession. It wouldn't have been possible.

As to whether this was someone at Channel 5 being ignorant or someone being malicious in order to either attack Charles (or Camilla) or boost ratings based on a piece of known nonsense, we may well never know. But apparently the BBC isn't the only TV channel exploiting the royals for the sake of publicity.

 

[HRH Kerry]

Sometimes people need to be held responsible for their actions. Tabloids printing speculation about an affair is one thing but to threaten part of what an institution stands for or belives in is another. To actually state that a member of the BRF is a catholic is slander. This program if widely aired can possibly cause dissension in the very people who hold the institution in high regard. On the other hand, ammunition to the ones who don't believe in that very institution. Someone at the top of this network (or whoever produced the program) needs to be held accountable.

 

[BeatrixFan]

It's hardly slander. Being a Catholic isn't the same as being an axe-murderer.

 

[HRH Kerry]

I am not talking about being catholic or any other religion. What I am talking about is lies. Cut and dry.

 

[Jo of Palatine]

I think what Wymanda meant was that this was a programme intended to make her seem unfit for Royal service, I don't think she meant any slur on Catholics at all.

I think so, too and tried to make a joke about it. I just hope I did not point Catholics to the posting so their feelings got hurt. Sorry, dear Wymanda and sorry, dear Catholics, if that happened.

 

[BeatrixFan]

Yes but not all lies equal slander. Saying someone is a Catholic when they're not is a mistake not slander.

 

[HRH Kerry]

But the point is was it a simple mistake? You have to do proper research unless your program was meant to cause controversy.

 

[CasiraghiTrio]

True, it's not slander, just a mistake, but maybe the intent was slanderous, as the anti-Camilla movement may try using the fact she was married to a Roman Catholic to make a case against her being Queen. It would be a weak case, I grant you, because there is no law against a Catholic person's ex-wife being Queen, only against a Catholic being married to a royal, but the whole anti-Queen Camilla thing is a weak case in itself. They have no case, so they're just grabbing straws. Times and numbers are against them. More and more British people are Catholic, right? And the number of royal divorces in the last century negates the old divorce taboo. If Prince Charles can still be king as a divorcee, then what prohibits Camilla being his Queen Consort? Nothing. The so-called "case" against it is absurd.

 

[wbenson]

I think that if Camilla were to announce her Catholicism today, the bill changing the rules would be laid down in Parliament tomorrow, and hopefully be passed within the week and sent out concurrently to the Queen's other realms for approval. I doubt the government would want to be seen domestically or internationally as "the government that hates Catholics," whether such sentiments are accurate or not.

 

[Elspeth]

I'm not sure they'd need legislation in that case because the Duchess of Kent's conversion to Catholicism didn't affect the Duke's position in the line of succession. Also, Charles and Camilla aren't going to have children, so the question of the religion of a prospective monarch isn't relevant.

It would, however, be a good wake-up call that something needs to be done about this part of the Act of Settlement before the royal family is backed into a corner by an heir announcing he has a Catholic girlfriend and wants to get engaged to her.

 

[HRH Kerry]

I doubt that. This would not be the proper time if that was the case.

 

[Avalon]

To answer the question about the Duchess' religion, here is a quote from the Prince of Wales official website:

What religion do The Prince and The Duchess practice?

As Anglicans, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall are members of The Church of England and regularly attend church.
The Prince also takes a interest in all faiths and over the years has spent a lot of time encouraging dialogue and good relations between Britain’s main faith communities.
In 1994, The Prince said of his future role as Head of the Church of England, which he would assume when he becomes King: “I personally would rather see it as Defender of Faith, not ‘The Faith’”.

The confusion may come from the fact the Duchess had a Catholic (first) wedding - because Andrew Parker Bowles was/is Catholic.

 

[love_cc]

Camilla married in the Guard Chapel and it is not a traditional cathelic church. I wonder whether a Roman Cathelic priest carried out the service. The program should have done a better background research. The matter has been cleared before the wedding of Charles and Camilla: Camilla is not a Roman Cathelic.

 

[tiaratop]

What about the girl who is going to marry Peter Phillips? Will he lose his place in line to the throan?

 

[cde]

Camilla married in the Guard Chapel and it is not a traditional cathelic church. I wonder whether a Roman Cathelic priest carried out the service. The program should have done a better background research. The matter has been cleared before the wedding of Charles and Camilla: Camilla is not a Roman Cathelic.

I looked around and can't find the article that Camilla and Andrew were married by a Catholic priest either. But I remember an article came out around the time of C+C's wedding mentioning that Camilla had married in a Catholic wedding. I also think it is very likely they were. Andrew's mother Ann was a serious catholic. From what I heard about her, I would be very suprised if they weren't married by a catholic priest. Tom and Laura were raised Catholic mostly due to her. On a side note, I was sort of surprised Tom hadn't gone to Ampleforth.

 

[Henri M.]

No specific denomonation

Camilla married in the Guard Chapel and it is not a traditional cathelic church. I wonder whether a Roman Cathelic priest carried out the service. The program should have done a better background research. The matter has been cleared before the wedding of Charles and Camilla: Camilla is not a Roman Cathelic.

The Royal Military Chapel, better known as "The Guards Chapel", Wellington Barracks, is used by all denominations of the Christian Church represented in the Royal Army Chaplains Department.

The normal services on Sunday are conducted in accordance with the rite of the Church of England.

The Guards officer Andrew Parker Bowles married his bride Miss Camilla Rosemary Shand, daughter of War-hero Major Bruce Middleton Hope Shand MC and Bar, in his "own" Chapel and most likely with a Roman-Catholic Army Chaplain.

 

[Iluvbertie]

What about the girl who is going to marry Peter Phillips? Will he lose his place in line to the throan?

The simple answer is - Yes - if she is a Roman Catholic.

As there was no announcement about that at the time of the engagement then I will simply wait and see.

She may be prepared to convert before the wedding but if she is a Roman Catholic at the time of the marriage then Peter is removed from the line of succession but if the children are raised as anything other than RC then they can be in the line of succession in the same way that Prince Michael of Kent is no longer in the line of succession due to his marriage but their children are.