“It does seem rather odd that a protestant King would commission a translation for the commoners”
Couple things here.
Back then, the official church of England was the self named, CoE. You could be executed (and many were) for practicing Catholicism.
Folks have said that the Emperor Constantine perverted Christianity by making it an official religion, but that’s precisely what King Henry VIII did. He established the official church in England.
Are you saying that you regard the KJV as the expression of God when it comes from the same root as King Henry VIII as being the ‘official’ bible of the CoE?
You don’t see a problem with this? A King - taking the bible and publishing it and then forcing people to use it? An earthly King telling you what to do and believe?
I have yet to find a book of King Henry VIII included in the KJV. The 'king's' first duty was and is protector of the faith. The old testament is filled with derelict kings, nothing new there. Did King Henry VII ever claim one had to go through him to find Jesus? Why a certain man made that whooper of a claim just this year.