The Archbishop of Canterbury: everything you need to know about ...

King Charles III is presented with The Sovereign's Orb by The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, during his coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey on 6 May, 2023

The Archbishop of Canterbury was at the front and centre of the action this weekend, as Britain watched King Charles’s Coronation. When Queen Elizabeth II was crowned as Queen in 1953, the defining moment of the ceremony was when a previous Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, raised the sparkling St Edward’s Crown high in the air, and placed it on her head. Today, the eyes of the world were once again on the Archbishop as Justin Welby officially marked the reign of Britain’s new monarch, in a gesture which has not been carried out for 70 years.

Here, Tatler gives you everything you need to know about the current Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who carried out one of the most important roles in British royal history today.

The Most Reverend Justin Welby arrives for his enthronement as Archbishop of Canterbury at Canterbury Cathedral on March 21, 2013 in Canterbury, England

Born in 1956 in Middlesex, Justin Welby, 67, is the son of Jane Gillian Portal and Gavin Welby. Growing up, he attended Eton College, before going on to study at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he read history and law. It was over his time at Cambridge that the now Archbishop became a Christian. In an interview, he said that a friend ‘simply explained the gospels to him’, and he told the Daily Telegraph that he suddenly felt ‘a clear sense of something changing, the presence of something that had not been there before in my life’ when he was praying with a Christian friend one evening in 1975.

Following his time at Cambridge, Welby worked in the oil industry for 11 years, during which time, he was a member of Holy Trinity Brompton church in London. In 1989, he retired from his career in oil following a sense of a calling to be ordained. With the support of the Vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton, Sandy Millar, he started the process of becoming ordained - which he accomplished in 1992.

Following a series of appointments at various churches, in 2002, Welby was appointed a canon residentiary of Coventry Cathedral before being appointed as Dean of Liverpool in December 2007. He was appointed as Bishop of Durham in 2011, introduced to the House of Lords in 2012 and then appointed as Archbishop of Canterbury in the same year, though at the time he was reportedly shocked at being put forward. He officially became Archbishop of Canterbury on 4 February 2013.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby gives a reading at the State Funeral Service for Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, at Westminster Abbey in London on September 19, 2022

The Archbishop of Canterbury is a senior member of the House of Lords, and is classed as the highest rank within the Anglican church. Described as the ‘primate of All England’, he sits alongside the Archbishop of York, who is ‘primate of England’. As well as being given the honour of crowning the monarch, the Archbishop of Canterbury also ranks immediately below princes of royal blood. His official residence is at Lambeth Palace.

Justin Welby has been present at most royal events over the past 10 years, including Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding in 2018. He gave a sermon at the Queen’s funeral in 2022, and christened the children of the Prince and Princess of Wales: Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. The first Archbishop of Canterbury was Augustine in the year 597.

Queen Elizabeth II receives the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, at Buckingham Palace

The Archbishop of Canterbury officiated the ceremony at the King’s Coronation on 6 May in a service which his official website describes as ‘rooted in longstanding tradition and Christian symbolism’. His role included introducing the ceremony, crowning the monarch and anointing King Charles III with holy oil. Despite rumours that the anointing part of the ceremony would be shown on camera for the first time, the King ultimately decided to keep it a private event. This is a decision which followed in the footsteps of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, whose 1953 Coronation was the first to be televised but also refrained from showing the anointing.

The anointing of the King takes place before the investiture or crowning and is considered the most sacred part of the ceremony. In this, the Archbishop of Canterbury poured what is known as ‘chrism oil’ from an Ampulla (a golden vessel shaped as an Eagle) onto a Coronation spoon which dates back to 1349. From this spoon, he anointed the sovereign on the hands, breast and head, according to the Royal Collection Trust.