Would giving royal assent to the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill place the queen in breach of her coronation oath?

At her coronation in 1953 Queen Elizabeth II was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury:

‘Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the Laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel? Will you to the utmost of your power maintain in the United Kingdom the Protestant Reformed Religion established by law? Will you maintain and preserve inviolably the settlement of the Church of England, and the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government thereof, as by law established in England?’ 

She replied, ‘All this I promise to do’.

The Queen is a committed Christian believer who takes very seriously her duty to maintain ‘the true profession of the Gospel’. But what about her similar duty to 'maintain the Laws of God'?

The Laws of God about marriage are very clear.  Marriage is a lifelong monogamous bond between one man and one woman as established by creation ordinance (Genesis 2:24) and upheld by Jesus Christ (Matthew 19:5 ) and his Apostles (Ephesians 5:31).

Furthermore it points to the complementarity, permanence and fruitfulness of Christ’s own relationship with his bride, the church (Ephesians 5:31-2).

The redefinition of marriage which is the basis of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill runs directly contrary to this.

It is therefore very difficult to see how the Queen can give it her Royal Assent without at the same time violating her Coronation Oath. 

Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester, made this very point earlier this month. 

Lord Mackay, former Lord Advocate and Lord Chancellor, at a recent event hosted by the Theos think tank, was also asked just this question - whether, in light of the Church of England’s opposition, signing the Bill might put the Queen in breach of her Coronation Oath. 

Lord Mackay, who opposes same-sex marriage, said that ministers should ensure any legislation was consistent with the Queen’s promise. He said:

‘The Queen under our constitutional arrangements is expected to act in accordance with the advice of her ministers, given ultimately through the Prime Minister. The idea of the Coronation Oath was that it would never be in conflict with that advice and therefore it is the responsibility of the ministers of the Crown to see that whatever advice they give is consistent with the proper construction of the Coronation Oath.’

He added: ‘My hope is that a contradiction between what is advised and what was sworn should never arise.’

But if the Lords pass this bill this exact situation will actually arise. The Prime Minister will be advising the Queen to do something which almost certainly violates her Coronation Oath in the very year she celebrates the 60^th anniversary of that coronation.

Even if passed by both Houses of Parliament the Marriage Bill cannot become law without receiving royal assent. So the Queen does have the power to block the bill, even if it is a power she has never yet used with any piece of legislation.

The last time a British Monarch withheld royal assent was over 300 years ago in 1708 – when the last Stuart monarch, Anne, withheld her Assent from a bill ‘for the settling of Militia in Scotland’.

However there have been more recent examples of royal assent being withheld in other European monarchies.

On 2 December 2008 Grand Duke Henri, Luxembourg's monarch and a Roman Catholic, refused to sign a euthanasia bill into law.

As a result the Luxembourg parliament stripped him of his constitutional powers by amending the constitution so that bills would no longer require his approval before passing into law. 

A precedent for Luxembourg's move was set in 1990, when Belgium's King Badouin found himself unable to approve an abortion law.

With the king's approval, the government made him a commoner for several days and passed the law, putting him back on the throne after the legislature had enacted the bill unilaterally.

Were the Queen to refuse to sign the Marriage Bill, it would provoke a similar constitutional crisis and would place the British Parliament in the situation of deciding whether to strip her of her constitutional powers in order to force it through.

Over 2,500 years ago, Queen Esther of Persia, a Jewess, was encouraged by her uncle Mordecai to risk her life by taking a stand of conscience in order to protect her own people.

Their conversation, carried out via messengers, is one of the most famous in the Old Testament:

‘Then (Esther) instructed him to say to Mordecai, ‘All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold sceptre to them and spares their lives…

When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai,  he sent back this answer: ‘Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?’

Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ‘Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.’ (Esther 4:11-16)

Is this Queen Elizabeth II’s Queen 'Esther moment' I wonder? Was she brought to royal position ‘for such a time as this’?

We must pray earnestly that she is given great courage and great wisdom. 

The queen fulfils her coronation Oath to uphold the true profession of the Gospel

On 2 June 1953, 60 years ago today, the queen on her coronation took an oath.

She was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury, ‘Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the Laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel?’

She answered, ‘All this I promise to do.’

Gillan Scott has usefully catalogued on his blog excerpts from the Queen’s Christmas messages over the last few years and says, I believe correctly, that she has become ‘one of our nation’s greatest evangelists’.

And one does not have to look far in these speeches to see the evidence of her own faith in Christ and the Christian Gospel:

‘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.’ (2000)

‘I draw strength from the message of hope in the Christian gospel.’ (2002)

She sees both the beauty in man (being made in the image of God) but also our fallenness and need for redemption:

‘Although we are capable of great acts of kindness, history teaches us that we sometimes need saving from ourselves – from our recklessness or our greed. God sent into the world a unique person – neither a philosopher nor a general, important though they are, but a Saviour, with the power to forgive.’(2011)

She emphasises the historic truths at the heart of our faith, that Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead:

‘…Jesus of Nazareth who, often in circumstances of great adversity, managed to live an outgoing, unselfish and sacrificial life.’ (2008)

‘His death might have been the end of the story, but then came the resurrection and with it the foundation of the Christian faith.’ (2000)  

‘Forgiveness lies at the heart of the Christian faith.’ (2012)

And she goes on to emphasise what is at the very heart of the life of faith of the believer:

‘God sent his only son “to serve, not to be served”. He restored love and service to the centre of our lives in the person of Jesus Christ.’ (2012)

 What is our rightful response to Jesus, she asks:

‘The carol, In The Bleak Midwinter… gives the answer “Yet what I can I give him – give my heart”. (2012)

The heart, biblically speaking, refers to our whole selves – mind, will and emotions.

In Passion Week, just before his crucifixion, Pharisees and Herodians sought to catch Jesus out by asking him whether the Jews should pay taxes to Caesar.

The plan was to put Jesus in an impossible position.

If he said ‘no’ he would be in trouble with the Romans, the governing authorities. If he said ‘yes’ he would lose the popularity of the people.

His answer was brilliant:

Jesus knew their hypocrisy. ‘Why are you trying to trap me?’ he asked. ‘Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.’ They brought the coin, and he asked them, ‘Whose image is this? And whose inscription?’

‘Caesar’s,’ they replied. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.’ And they were amazed at him.

Roman coins carried the image of the emperor and so they belonged to the emperor.

This of course begged the question of what it was that carried the image of God.

The Pharisees, who in spite being hypocrites knew their Bibles, would have known the answer to this question.

It is human beings who carry God’s image (Genesis 1:27).

The implication is clear. Human beings belong to God (Psalm 24:1) and so should give their hearts – their whole selves – to God.

This is what the queen, in upholding her coronation oath, encourages all of us to do.

So have you? 

The Queen once again points her subjects to Jesus Christ

While the Pope, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of Westminster addressed Syria, women bishops and gay marriage respectively the Queen kept her Christmas message short, direct and simple.

Building on the spirit of togetherness and friendship captured in 2012 by the London Olympics and Diamond Jubilee celebrations she then praised the spirit of service displayed by the armed forces, emergency services and health workers before saying that all of us should reach out beyond ‘familiar relationships’ to serve others.

But then she really cut to the chase (see full text here).

'At Christmas I am always struck by how the spirit of togetherness lies also at the heart of the Christmas story. A young mother and a dutiful father with their baby were joined by poor shepherds and visitors from afar. They came with their gifts to worship the Christ child. From that day on he has inspired people to commit themselves to the best interests of others.

This is the time of year when we remember that God sent his only son "to serve, not to be served". He restored love and service to the centre of our lives in the person of Jesus Christ.

It is my prayer this Christmas Day that his example and teaching will continue to bring people together to give the best of themselves in the service of others.'

Not content to point to Jesus simply as an example to follow, she drove home the point of responding personally to him:

'The carol, In The Bleak Midwinter, ends by asking a question of all of us who know the Christmas story, of how God gave himself to us in humble service: "What can I give him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb; if I were a wise man, I would do my part". The carol gives the answer "Yet what I can I give him - give my heart".'

Last year the Queen similarly pointed people to Jesus Christ by using another familiar hymn:

‘Finding hope in adversity is one of the themes of Christmas. Jesus was born into a world full of fear. The angels came to frightened shepherds with hope in their voices: “Fear not”, they urged, “we bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”

“For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour who is Christ the Lord.”

Although we are capable of great acts of kindness, history teaches us that we sometimes need saving from ourselves - from our recklessness or our greed.

God sent into the world a unique person - neither a philosopher nor a general, important though they are, but a Saviour, with the power to forgive.

Forgiveness lies at the heart of the Christian faith. It can heal broken families, it can restore friendships and it can reconcile divided communities. It is in forgiveness that we feel the power of God's love.

In the last verse of this beautiful carol, O Little Town Of Bethlehem, there's a prayer:

O Holy Child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us we pray.
Cast out our sin
And enter in.
Be born in us today.

It is my prayer that on this Christmas day we might all find room in our lives for the message of the angels and for the love of God through Christ our Lord.’

At a time when so many use authority to exercise power over others, we are truly blessed to have a monarch who knows where true power lies.

And in an age when even many Christian leaders seem to find it difficult to be faithful to the Gospel, we can be thankful that our sovereign does not hesitate to tell it like it is, and graciously points people to Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, as the one with the power to forgive, to whom we owe our very hearts.