The Anglican Church could have been much more than it is had the present agnostic Royal Family taken an interest in its direction. For centuries it has abrogated all responsibility for the role the royals played before the entry of the German Lutherans. There was one exception, Queen Victoria, but that demands comparison with the present Queen who has lasted about as long, and that silly doofus should have decamped long ago. Unfortunately and sadly for the Christian community, had she done so, she would only have passed the scepter to one of the feckless brood she has fostered.
So it’s the Queen’s fault?
Let's start with the basics - Her Majesty the Queen is a devout Christian. One of the most devout I have ever met. I would say that her faith is a fairly simple one, but it's a very pure one as well. She believes in God, and in doing her duty as she swore to God, with all her heart and soul. Other members of the Royal Family, I'm less sure about - some certainly seem devout, but they are more or less required to. The Prince of Wales, who is a friend of mine, is certainly no Moslem, despite ridiculous assertions that have been made in the past - but I'm not sure how Christian he is. My view is that he's fairly typical of most modern adherents of the Church of England, including, I will say in honesty, myself. It's a fairly lukewarm thing, it's hard to get excited about a Church that doesn't seem to know where it's going. But whether religious or not, what all the adult members of the Royal Family have - and the younger ones do seem to be acquiring it as they enter adulthood - is a sense of duty to their country.
Constitutionally, the Queen is very limited in her powers (except in particular crisis situations, one of which - a hung parliament - may well develop in the next few days). She has the power and right to be kept informed by her Prime Minister, to advise her Prime Minister, and to warn her Prime Minister. If he (or she) chooses not to accept Her Majesty's advice, or her warnings, then that's the way it is. I am, fairly well certain, Her Majesty has advised and warned Mr Brown, and previously advised and warned Mr Blair, about many aspects of their policies that I am sure she personally disagrees with. But as long as the people elect their governments, they are not bound to accept her views.
In terms of setting an example for the people of Britain, I believe they do that. I'm just not sure that all that many of the people of Britain know that they are doing it, and that's largely the fault of the media, selectively reporting what the Royals do. Set an example - well, a few observations.
Nearly all the Royal family do attend Church every Sunday. Not many other people in the UK seem to - but they do. There's not really much they can do to improve these things, but they attend themselves, and they are public in their attendance and observation.
In terms of other things they do - let's just look for the moment at the Prince of Wales. Let's look at his official diary for the next week.
Today, 5th of May, his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall is presenting campaign medals to soldiers of 4th Batallion, the Rifles. She is their Colonel-In-Chief.
On Friday, the Prince himself will be presenting wings to soldiers who have just completed their training for the Army Air Corps.
On Saturday both of them will be attending commemorations for the 65th Anniversary of VE Day and the Prince of Wales will be meeting veterans after that.
Sunday, he will also be meeting veterans - Cavalry this time.
These are next four official engagements - all four of which will be spent honouring current and former members of the British Armed Forces. If this isn't setting an example, I'm really not sure what it is. But the media rarely reports it.
Setting an example - Prince William is currently training as a Search-and-Rescue pilot with the RAF. Prince Harry is training as a combat helicopter pilot with the Army, having already served in Afghanistan. Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are both at university, and are not expected to take on an active role in the Royal family until their studies are completed. Nonetheless, the weekend before last, Beatrice ran the London Marathon to help raise money for one of her mother's charities. If that isn't setting a good example for other 21 year old university students, I'm not sure what I'd call it.
Go up one generation - all three male Princes in that generation (The Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, and the Earl of Wessex) served in the British Armed Forces - the Duke of York with the most distinction, but all three served). This is a family where nearly all the men has worn the uniform, and if called upon, have gone to war. If that's not setting a good example, then, again, I don't know what people think they should do.
Are they perfect? By no means. But to blame them in any way for what Britain has become is, in my view, completely unreasonable. If Britain was full of families where everybody went to Church, and where people routinely chose to serve their country, it would be a very different place.