King Charles III won’t issue Easter message, palace says

The British monarch, who is regarded as supreme governor of the Church of England, will not issue a speech marking Easter, Buckingham Palace confirmed to Great Britain News on Thursday. Though Buckingham Palace typically issues a Christmas message each year, it does not always release an Easter message.

But the move to omit royal Easter greetings has drawn ire from many, especially on social media, since Charles recently shared short messages marking the beginning and end of the month of Ramadan, a religious observance by Muslims. Former queen’s chaplain Gavin Ashenden was among those who condemned the decision, suggesting that the royal family might have outlived its usefulness.

Charles issued an Easter message last year, writing that God loved the whole world enough to send His son to show us how to love one another and to lay His life down. Jesus’ love reflected a deep human instinct echoed in Islam and other religious traditions, the king wrote at the time.

Has the British royal family participated in any Christian Holy Week celebrations thus far? Charles and his wife attended a Maundy Thursday service, marking the occasion of Christ’s Last Supper, at a cathedral in North Wales on Thursday.

Workers removed graffiti reading “Not Our King” from the cathedral’s outer walls just ahead of his arrival, the North Wales Chronicle reported. At least one activist group also held a protest outside the cathedral, calling for the royals to share what they knew about Jeffrey Epstein and his relationship with former prince Andrew, Charles’ brother, according to Republic, an anti-monarchy activist group.

Dig deeper: Read my report on Andrew’s arrest for investigation related to Epstein.