The Queen gave a rare personal insight when she wrote about her religious faith in the foreword to a book entitled The Servant Queen and the King She Serves, published by the Bible Society in 2016 to mark her ninetieth birthday. ‘I have been – and remain – very grateful to you for your prayers and to God for his steadfast love,’ the Queen wrote. ‘I have indeed seen his faithfulness.’ She then went on to write about the changes she has experienced during her lifetime: ‘The extent and pace of change has been truly remarkable,’ she said. ‘We have witnessed triumphs and tragedies.’

The Queen also took the opportunity to allude to the current problems in the Middle East, saying the world was experiencing ‘terrible suffering on an unprecedented scale’. The foreword was very much along the lines of her Christmas speeches, which are the only ones that she writes herself – or partly herself. Prince Philip, an extremely experienced speechwriter, is known to provide his input to the Christmas speeches and consequently they also reflect his own views and beliefs – another example of how the partnership of their marriage works.

The Queen’s faith goes beyond her public pronouncements and private devotions, however. That she reigns through her belief in God is intrinsic to the sovereign. A one pound coin in the United Kingdom bears an image of the Queen’s head, surrounded by the words: ‘ELIZABETH II D·G·REG·F·D.’ It stands for ‘Elizabeth II Dei Gratia Regina Fidei Defensor’ or ‘Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, Queen, Defender of the Faith’. This notation was first added to British coins in 1714, during the reign of King George I. The decision of the Royal Mint to omit it from the ‘Godless Florin’ in 1849 caused such a scandal that the coin had to be replaced.

The sovereign holds the title ‘Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England’, and this dates back to the reign of King Henry VIII, who was initially granted the title of Defender of the Faith in 1521 by Pope Leo X. It was Queen Elizabeth I who was first proclaimed ‘Supreme Governor’ of the Church of England, a title that has remained to this day. In her role as Supreme Governor, the Queen is spiritual leader of the 25 million people in the UK who are baptised in the Church of England, though only about one million of them go to church each week. This is mainly a ceremonial role, because in practice the church is led by the Archbishop of Canterbury and other bishops.