It appears as if 2025 will be a year of many changes for the royal family. Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who presided over the King’s coronation in May 2023, resigned at the end of 2024 in the wake of a damning review of the Church of England’s handling of a sex abuse scandal. Welby’s 12-year tenure ended on 6 January and the next archbishop will not be announced until the autumn. In the meantime, the Archbishop of York, the Most Reverend Stephen Cottrell, assumes the Archbishop of Canterbury’s responsibilities as caretaker.
Charles III, who is deeply spiritual himself, looked to Welby for guidance ahead of the coronation and they worked together on the wording of the oath and discussed the symbolic importance of the regalia. The most sacred part of the ceremony was the moment of anointing when Charles and Welby were hidden behind an ornate screen. Welby described it as the ‘most significant’ part of the coronation. ‘There was a stillness there,’ he revealed, ‘an absolutely mysterious and almost mystical stillness and a sense of the presence of God.’ It felt, Welby said, as though he and the King were alone.
In behind-the-scenes television footage of the coronation rehearsals Welby is shown practising the moment of crowning, when he would place the heavy St Edward’s Crown on the monarch’s head. Anxious that the archbishop wouldn’t get it on exactly straight, the King instructed him to ‘jam it on’.
‘I don’t want to break your neck, sir,’ Welby replied. ‘It might ruin the service.’
Changes are also afoot in Canada with the resignation of Justin Trudeau after nearly a decade as prime minister. The general election that has to take place there by late October rules out any significant royal visits this year.
Following the ill health of both the Princess of Wales and the King their overseas visits are no longer announced so far in advance. The problems with security in such a tumultuous world have increased over the last decade and the days of extended royal tours are over.
There is one big environmental conference on the horizon – COP 2025 – this time in Belem in Brazil. The King or the Prince of Wales will most likely be there in November as it is at the heart of their agenda on climate change.
After the Duchess of Sussex announced her new eight-part cooking and lifestyle series for Netflix, to some ridicule in the media, the couple are due in Vancouver and Whistler this month for the Invictus Games. Harry is at his best with the soldiers and veterans as they use the power of sport on their journey to recovery.
As soon as the games are over the Duke of Sussex will fly to London for up to four days in the witness box at the High Court trial against News Group Newspapers. He is suing the publisher over alleged unlawful information gathering and invasion of privacy going back to 1998. Harry has declared himself a ‘dragon slayer’ and refuses to give up his crusade against the British press however much it costs him emotionally and financially.
