This is King Charles III’s official title: “His Majesty Charles the Third, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of His other Realms and Territories King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.” The faith he’s officially defending is the Church of England (“CoE”). However, Charles’s choice to honor Ramadan this year while ignoring Easter—a year of aggressively ascendant Islam in the UK—leaves one questioning his fealty to the CoE, and lends fuel to old rumors that he’s secretly a Muslim convert.
Before I begin, here’s a fun little bit of history about which faith a British monarch is defending. In 1521, when England was still part of European Catholicism, Henry VIII wrote a treatise entitled Assertio Septem Sacramentorum (“Defense of the Seven Sacraments.”) There was a Pope Leo on the Papal throne back then, too, the tenth of his name, and he awarded Henry the title of Fidei Defensor, or “defender of the faith.”
Here’s the funny part: Thirteen years later, in 1534, Henry officially broke with Rome, a break largely driven by his desperate need for a son. Katherine of Aragon had given him only a daughter and could no longer have children. Henry needed a new wife, and the Pope would not grant him a divorce; so, he got rid of the Pope. This was made possible by the rise of Protestantism in England. It’s a long story…
Any, the papacy promptly revoked the title Fidei Defensor, only to have Parliament, in 1544, reinstate it, only this time it referred to the CoE, not the Catholic Church.
I mention all this because there’s long been speculation that, if Charles took the throne, the new faith the British monarch defended might be Islam.
All the way back in 2003, Daniel Pipes wrote a widely disseminated post about long-standing rumors that Charles, who was open in his admiration for Islam, might have secretly converted. The introduction to the essay, which has been continuously updated, most recently in 2022, tells the tale:
In a 1997 Middle East Quarterly article titled “Prince Charles of Arabia,” Ronni L. Gordon and David M. Stillman looked at evidence that Britain’s crown prince might be a secret convert to Islam. They shifted through his public statements (defending Islamic law, praising the status of Muslim women, seeing in Islam a solution for Britain’s ailments) and actions (setting up a panel of twelve “wise men” to advise him on Islamic religion and culture), then concluded that, “should Charles persist in his admiration of Islam and defamation of his own culture,” his accession to the throne will indeed usher in a “different kind of monarchy.”
Charles continues this pattern of admiration and defamation, keeping alive the question of his stealth conversion to Islam. This weblog entry continues to document the topic.
It’s worth looking at the post, which offers endless examples of Charles’s reverence for Islam and disdain for his own country and culture. Even if he’s not a convert, you can see where his heart lies. And, indeed, Daniel Pipes is very careful never to say that he thinks Charles is a Muslim. Indeed, he specifically disavows that. Nevertheless, the fact that Charles has such admiration for Islam is…well, unnerving for someone who is supposed to be a defender of the Christian faith.
An X poster, Dr. Maalouf, doesn’t just stop with saying Charles really loves Islam. He thinks he’s a convert of long standing:
King Charles announces he won’t deliver any Easter message this year.
— Dr. Maalouf (@realMaalouf) April 2, 2026
Back in 1993 he stated: "Islam is part of our past and present. It created a modern Europe. Islam teaches us all lessons that Christianity has lost.”
I think it’s safe to say he converted to Islam long ago. pic.twitter.com/YFz48u9i7a
What’s interesting is that, even as Charles cannot contain his excitement about Islam, he’s much less interested in the most important holiday of the faith he ostensibly defends: Easter. This year, a year in which both in the UK and abroad, Islam is feeling its oats in violent ways, King Charles III, the Defender of the Faith, opted not to issue an Easter greeting.
Admittedly, unlike the British monarch’s annual Christmas greeting, the crown does not regularly issue Easter messages, though Charles did so last year. Also, to be fair, on Thursday, Charles and Camilla attended a Maundy Thursday service in North Wales.
The problem is that Charles just seems much more enthusiastic about Islam. On March 2, 2025, he opened Windsor Castle’s St. George’s Hall to 350+ Muslim guests for an Iftar celebration. Windsor Castle has been the British family’s royal residence since the 11th century. It is a very symbolic location.
During the event, Charles once again made obeisance to Islam:
UK: King Charles won’t give an Easter message to the British people this year as to not offend the nation’s Islamic population. Instead he hosted 360 Muslims in Windsor Castle. The Islamic call to prayer echoed through St George's Hall just last month. pic.twitter.com/9e7qCQGGm5
— @amuse (@amuse) April 3, 2026
Then, on Shrove Tuesday of this year ( February 17), Charles made sure to wish his Muslim subjects a “blessed and peaceful Ramadan.”
In other words, Charles is showing no sensitivity toward his Christian subjects, even as he shows increased sensitivity toward his Muslim subjects. This doesn’t mean he’s a Muslim convert, but it means that his emotional tilt is away from the people that the British crown has led since 1066, and the faith that the British crown has defended since 1521 or 1544 (choose your date). Worse from the perspective of Christians in the UK, he has tilted toward a faith that is completely antithetical to—and, indeed, that desires to destroy—the Church of England.
No wonder a lot of people are up in arms. You’d think that, by now, Charles would have figured out that, in fraught times, the British monarch should be proudly carrying the CoE banner, and not making nice with its enemies. That he hasn’t is just one more symbol of Europe’s decline.