God Save the Queen

Subtitled 'The Spiritual Dimension of Monarchy', Ian Bradley's book is a celebration and an exploration of the theme on the occasion of The Queen's Golden Jubilee. The book surveys monarchy in the Old and New Testaments, then Sacred Kingship in Celtic in Mediaeval Britain. At the centre of the book is an analysis of the coronation service, which is the expression of sacred monarchy that is all too easy to forget. Protestantism gave a different function to the monarch as Supreme Governor of the Church of England and the 19th century brought a modification of its role away from politics and towards philanthropy. Bradley rejects calls for a secularisation of the monarchy and supports the Prince of Wales in his desire to be 'Defender of Faith', seeing in him an expression of a new values in addition to the traditional ones - such as healing, wholeness and openness. The monarchy is a vocation and not an achievement. Bradley's book is required reading for all who want to understand its spiritual significance.