COURT CIRCULAR
PRINCE WILLIAM’s attendance at the Pope’s funeral wrecked the weekend he had planned around the FA Cup semis.
He may have grumbled that royals traditionally avoided papal requiems, sending senior Catholic peers in their place, until 2005 when his dad, whose faith is a curious blend of traditions (not all of them Christian), attended the funeral of John Paul II.
The ornate ceremonial in Rome is likely to have hardened William, more accustomed to the low church rituals of royal chapels, in his determination that his will be a simpler and secular monarchy. Having avoided an elaborate investiture as Prince of Wales, he would prefer a basic crowning without religious oaths and certainly no lengthy promises to protect the rights of Church of England clergy, too many of whom he feels have interpreted “suffer the little children” literally.