Still, it is impossible not to raise a puzzled eyebrow at King Charles’s decision to bestow a personal honour on the Archbishop of Canterbury simply for doing his job. It’s true, of course, that in the past year or so, Justin Welby has played a particularly prominent role in the life of our nation. And that eight months later, as the Church of England’s leading cleric, he helped to ensure that Charles’s coronation went without a hitch. Consequently, he has made Dr Welby a knight of the Royal Victorian Order, a rare honour at the discretion of the sovereign. Tossing him an extra secular honour for good conduct puts him in the same bracket as time-serving Whitehall mandarins.

Source: Daily Mail December 24, 2023 10:27 UTC