The Queen and Jesus

The public life of the Royal Family is very much bound up with the established Church. The monarch bears the title 'Defender of the Faith', inherited from Henry VIII, and the Church of England is part of the royal landscape. 

For Queen Elizabeth, however, religion was far more than a public duty. She spoke often of her personal faith – particularly in her later years – and was especially open about how she looked to Jesus as a pattern for her life. She tried, she said, to live based on his teachings and example, and she saw the value of these not only for her own life but for the life of the world. And she was a regular churchgoer not just on formal state occasions, but weekly; the pictures of her attending at Balmoral or Sandringham were not from staged photo-ops.

In her Christmas message in 1986 she said: ‘The two lessons that he had for us, which he underlined in everything he said and did, are the messages of God's love and how essential it is that we, too, should love other people. There are many serious and threatening problems in this country and in the world but they will never be solved until there is peace in our homes and love in our hearts.’

In 2000 she said: 

To many of us our beliefs are of fundamental importance. For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ's words and example.

Reflecting in 2014 on a visit to Belfast and on the outbreak of the First World War, she described Jesus as a ‘role-model of reconciliation and forgiveness’, who ‘stretched out his hands in love, acceptance and healing. Christ’s example has taught me to seek to respect and value all people of whatever faith or none.’ Perhaps she had in mind too her handshake with Martin McGuinness two years before, then the province's Deputy First Minister but a long-time commander in the IRA.

In 2017 she reflected on homelessness, saying: ‘We remember the birth of Jesus Christ whose only sanctuary was a stable in Bethlehem. He knew rejection, hardship and persecution; and yet it is Jesus Christ’s generous love and example which has inspired me through good times and bad.’

And she said in 2020, ‘The teachings of Christ have served as my inner light, as has the sense of purpose we can find in coming together to worship.’

Throughout her life, Queen Elizabeth took seriously the words of the Apostle Paul: ‘Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 2.5, NIV).