Royal officials have denied claims that Prince William does not want to become Supreme Governor of the Church of England when he becomes king.
The question was raised after the release of Robert Hardman's new biography of King Charles in which he quotes an insider who alleges that William does not share the spirituality of his father, nor the strong commitment to the Church of England of his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
"In royal circles, it is no secret that he does not share the King's sense of the spiritual, let alone the late Queen's unshakeable devotion to the Anglican church," he writes.
A senior palace figure claimed: "His father is very spiritual and happy to talk about faith but the Prince is not. He doesn't go to church every Sunday, but then nor do the large majority of the country.
"He might go at Christmas and Easter but that's it. He very much respects the institutions but he is not instinctively comfortable in a faith environment."
In response, the Queen's former chaplain Gavin Ashenden suggested on GB News that if William did not want to assume the Church title, he should abdicate.
"William doesn't show any signs of being alive to the vibrancy of Christian faith. And in that sense, he is very representative of his generation, but I don't think he understands the monarchy because although lots of people have talked about disestablishing the Church of England and changing our constitutional arrangements, they're immensely complex and they go back through 500 years of legislation ... it would take an army of lawyers ten years to do it," he said.
The Times has since reported that Prince William has no plans to reject the role, which dates back centuries.
The newspaper quoted palace officials as saying that "the conversation had never come up".
