AS A child, I was the sort of clever-clogs who examined his pennies before spending them on sweets. So I learned early on that Fid Def – or simply F D – imprinted around the head of the monarch on our coinage is Latin, short for Fidei Defensor (Defender of the Faith).
The title was conferred on the devoutly Catholic Henry VIII by Pope Leo X in 1521 in recognition of the king’s book A Defence of the Seven Sacraments, a counter-blast to the Protestant Reformation being preached by Martin Luther. Henry of course went on to blot his prayer book by declaring himself head of the Church in England. England became a Protestant nation, but subsequent monarchs were still called Defender of the Faith. Now, however, King Charles III seems to be watering down that 500-year-old legacy.
He defends Islam near as I can tell, certainly not his own people.
