King Charles accused of 'deserting Christians' as experts warn Prince William may abandon historic royal role

King Charles III was criticized by Queen Elizabeth’s former chaplain, Gavin Ashenden, recently, who claimed the monarch is "deserting Christians" and abandoned his oath as "Defender of the Faith." This came after "Defender of the Faith" was replaced in this year’s Sovereign Grant Annual Report in June with "His Majesty is Supreme Governor of the Church of England and protects the space for Faith within the multi-faith nation." Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told Fox News Digital the "new wording" has "caused considerable controversy." PRINCE HARRY'S 'THE WASP' RIVAL STEPPING DOWN BUT MAY REMAIN A 'VOICE IN THE KING'S EAR': EXPERT He added that it would have been better to leave "‘Defender of the Faith’ in the text after ‘Supreme Governor of the Church of England ’ and then add a phrase that recognised Britain as multi-faith which should be included.

Whoever wrote ‘protects the space for Faith within the multi-faith nation’ is no credit to the English language as this phrase is both weak and woke." Christopher Andersen, author of the new biography " Kate !" noted that Charles has always had a "powerful ecumenical streak." LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS "As far back as his student days at Cambridge, Charles in the 1970s was showing a strong interest in what eastern religions had to offer, particularly Islam , Buddhism, and Hinduism," he said.

And while Elizabeth was "very respectful" of other religions' customs, "she never wavered when it came to her Christian beliefs," he said.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER Andersen explained, " Charles is just a different sort of animal.

The current king has long believed that no one religion has all the answers.

He also knows that if he is going to have a big-tent reign, then he can't leave non-Christians standing out in the cold — he's going to have to let Muslims and Hindus and Jews and Buddhists inside." And it’s not just Charles, he noted.

"The new generation of royals isn't quite so sure about how to react to the whole ‘Defender of the Faith’ thing," Andersen said.

"A particularly telling moment came when William enrolled at Eton College in 1995." With cameras rolling, William sat at a desk filling out enrollment papers.

PRINCE WILLIAM, KATE MIDDLETON COULD SEEK 'GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT' TO PROTECT PRINCE GEORGE AT ETON: EXPERTS "When it came time to fill out the space marked ‘Religion,’ the future Head of the Church of England looked up at his father quizzically and asked what he should put down," Andersen emphasized.