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In 1996, the grand mufti of Cyprus, Nazim Al-Haqqani, accused Prince Charles of secretly converting to Islam in Turkey, which Buckingham Palace dismissed as “nonsense.”

“Did you know that Prince Charles has converted to Islam. Yes, yes. He is a Muslim. I can’t say more. But it happened in Turkey. Oh, yes, he converted all right. When you get home check on how often he travels to Turkey. You’ll find that your future king is a Muslim.” the late Nazim Al-Haqqani said in 1996.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman replied: “Nonsense.” 

King Charles III is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, a position he inherited upon his accession to the throne. This role is rooted in the Act of Settlement of 1701 and the Coronation Oath, which he took during his coronation ceremony.  He assumed the title “Defender of the Faith” but has also emphasised his desire to be a “defender of faith” in a broader sense, encompassing all religions.

So, what is King Charles III’s religion?  If you can work it out, you’ve done better than we have.

Middle East Eye wrote in a 2022 article shortly after Charles became King, that he “is not a secret Muslim – but his admiration and knowledge of the Islamic faith is well documented.”  But didn’t explain why.  Perhaps it is because the Palace said it was nonsense?

Despite not being a Muslim, Middle East Eye goes on to note that King Charles III has expressed admiration and knowledge of the Islamic faith and has made several speeches on theological and historical subjects related to Muslims and Islam.

Charles III has invoked Islamic theology in his advocacy for environmental issues and climate change, suggesting that an appreciation of Islamic views on natural order could help the West rethink its practical stewardship of the environment.

In a 2010 speech at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, Charles III highlighted the importance of limits to the abundance of nature, as imposed by God, and praised Islam for possessing “one of the greatest treasuries of accumulated wisdom and spiritual knowledge available to humanity.”

The King’s garden in his Gloucestershire home is inspired by Islamic traditions and plants mentioned in the Quran, demonstrating his appreciation for Islamic culture and values.

Charles III has been a patron of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies since 1993 and has been learning Arabic to understand the Quran better, a fact praised by Cambridge Central Mosque’s imam.

In a 1993 speech at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, Charles emphasised the need for the West to better understand Islam, acknowledging the debt Western culture owes to the Islamic world and highlighting the importance of resisting the temptation to associate extremism with Islam.

Charles also spoke about the benefits of Islamic finance, displaying detailed knowledge of the subject in a 2013 speech to the World Islamic Economic Forum in London, where he discussed the potential of Islamic finance to promote a just and ethical approach to managing systemic risk in economics and business.

He praised the Islamic concepts of musharaka and mudharabah, which involve risk-sharing and profit-sharing, as a more equitable alternative to conventional finance, and also referenced the Islamic concept of riba (usury) to comment on the need for a more sustainable approach to natural resource consumption.

Turkish Writer Wonders if Prince Charles has Converted to Islam

The following has been extracted from an article published in 2008 by Jihad Watch.

There have been various alleged proofs offered for the conversion myth. Numerous times over the past three decades, Charles has spoken to support both Muslims and Islam.

In 1989, when the Iranian ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against author Salman Rushdie, Charles reacted to the death decree by reflecting on the positive features that Islam has to offer the spiritually empty lives of his countrymen.

In 1993, speaking at Oxford University, he said, “Our judgement of Islam has been grossly distorted by taking the extremes to the norm. The truth is, of course, different and always more complex. My own understanding is that extremes, like the cutting off of hands, are rarely practised. The guiding principle and spirit of Islamic law, taken straight from the Koran, should be those of equity and compassion. Islam can teach us today a way of understanding and living in the world which Christianity itself is poorer for having lost.”

In a June 1994 television documentary, he declared his preference to be known as “Defender of Faith” rather than “Defender of the Faith”, prompting then-prime minister John Major to comment, “It would be a little odd if Prince Charles was defender of faiths of which he was not a member.”

In a speech at the Foreign Office Conference Centre on 13 December 1996, he called on Islamic pedagogy and philosophy to help young Britons develop a healthier view of the world. “There is much we can learn from that Islamic worldview in this respect. Everywhere in the world, people want to learn English. But in the West, in turn, we need to be taught by Islamic teachers how to learn with our hearts, as well as our heads.”

In 1997, the Daily Mail of London reported that he had set up a panel of 12 “wise men” (in fact, 11 men and one woman) to advise him on Islamic religion and culture. No comparable body was established to advise him on any other faith in his future realm.

He is vice patron of the Centre for Islamic Studies at Oxford University, a centre built by a US$33 million Saudi gift with the stated aim of putting Islam at the heart of the British education system.

In 2003, Prince Charles went to America for an eight-day tour. His mission was to persuade President George W Bush and the Americans of the merits of Islam. He has voiced private concerns over America’s confrontational approach to Muslim countries and its failure to appreciate Islam’s strengths. He thinks the United States has been too intolerant of the religion.

Charles’s most recent visits to Turkey were in 2005 to mark the 90^th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings and again in 2007 with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, for a four-day tour.

Whether or not he has converted, which is of course strongly denied by Buckingham Palace spokesmen, he is an immensely popular figure throughout the Middle East. The Saudis regard him as a candid friend of the Islamic world. British academic John Casey, of Cambridge University, says the Prince of Wales’ hero status in the Arab world (for his pro-Islamic comments and actions) is permanent and “No other Western figure commands this sort of admiration.”

Cynics claim his friendship is based on upper-class hobnobbing with the Dubai polo set. Others believe that the UK Foreign Office capitalises on his popularity and uses him as a point man for British business interests in Muslim countries. Casey commented in the London Daily Telegraph, “The Charles of Arabia phenomenon is here to stay, for it helps assure British commerce with the Muslim world.”

Whether or not a conversion did take place in Turkey will probably never be known, Charles is unlikely to give up his claim for the British throne by making a full disclosure. He may even encourage the image of himself as a spiritual dilettante flitting from faith to faith to hide a special leaning toward Islam.

The Religion of King Charles III

The following are extracts from an article published by the National Catholic Registry on 12 October 2022.

Now formally the supreme governor of the Church of England, the new monarch has previously demonstrated an esteem for the Catholic Church, but the substance of his personal faith is somewhat uncertain.

Gavin Ashenden, a former Anglican bishop and chaplain to the queen who was received into the Catholic Church in 2019, said he sees “no evidence in Charles’ public language that he relates to Jesus as Lord” and noted that he “has chafed at the exclusiveness of Christianity and only recently committed himself to Anglicanism.”

Ashden believes Charles has gravitated toward “spirituality, both Islamic and that of Greek Orthodoxy,” but added that this appears to be no more “than observer status” and that Charles’ affection for Orthodoxy is more diplomatic than personal. 

Hilton said he senses Charles has inherited a “deep respect for Orthodoxy and also the cosmology of Universalism,” and Mount Athos, which Charles has visited several times, “represents to him a cultural history, spiritual unity and interfaith harmony.”

In addition to the British monarch being the symbolic leader of an alternative ecclesial community to the Catholic Church, the British royal family has long and historic links to Freemasonry.

Charles’ grandfather, King George VI, was an ardent mason, and Charles’ father, the late Duke of Edinburgh, was initiated into the secret society condemned by the Catholic Church, reportedly against his will. 

Queen Elizabeth’s cousin, the Duke of Kent, continues to be the head of the Freemasons in Britain. It remains unclear if Charles is a Freemason himself; he reportedly resisted pressure to join in his 20s, but it is not known if he continued to reject such invitations in his later years. 

“His Majesty is a strong defender of the traditional faith and worship of the Church of England and, like his mother, is patron of the Prayer Book Society [the society that promotes the traditional, 1662 liturgical order of the Church of England],” Ernest said. 

The king, he added, “has already put on record his determination to follow his mother in his performance of his duty under the inspiration of God.”

And Then There’s This 

Hope of Israel Ministries published an article which doesn’t show a date of publishing but was after Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral. The article is titled ‘King Charles III and His Judah-Israelitish Pedigree’.

“It has often been reported that the late Queen Victoria knew of her direct line of descent from the Biblical King David. Two mainstream British publications, the Leeds Daily News and Vanity Fair Magazine both reported on this in 1894, as reported at the time in the British-Israel journal, The Banner of Israel.”

“The classic book on the subject, The Royal House of Britain An Enduring Dynasty has now been reprinted in Great Britain (www.covpub.co.uk). This is an excellent resource detailing the British royal family’s descent from King David, prepared originally by the Rev. F.R.A. Glover with the assistance of Queen Victoria.”

And Mathew Ehret wrote that King Charles is a British Israelite. 

British Israelism, also known as Anglo-Israelism, is a pseudohistorical belief that claims the British people are descended from the Ten Lost Tribes of ancient Israel. This idea emerged in the 16^th century and gained popularity in the 19^th century, particularly through writings such as John Wilson’s 1840 book ‘Our Israelitish Origin’.

British Israelites believe that the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, scattered after the Assyrian conquest, migrated to Europe and eventually settled in Britain. They identify the British nation as Ephraim, the lead tribe among the Ten, and the United States as Manasseh, a tribe that allegedly broke off from the Ten Tribes. They believe that God’s covenant promises to Abraham’s descendants have been fulfilled in the British and American peoples, citing biblical prophecies and genealogical connections.

Some advocates of British Israelism claim that the British royal family is descended from the kings of Judah.

Further reading: The British-Israel Theory, A.J. Pollock