The Order of Precedence for England and Wales sets out the exact rank of what used to be called “the highest in the land”. In this order, the monarch comes first, and after her, various senior members of her family. The highest non-royal personage is always the Archbishop of Canterbury.
After he has been enthroned in Canterbury next spring, Justin Welby will rank four places above David Cameron. Even the Archbishop of York takes precedence over a mere Prime Minister. Roger Scruton does not mention this apparently minor fact, but it illustrates the point his book makes very well. England (let us leave the trickier question of the whole United Kingdom for another day) was defined by its monarchy and its Church well before anyone had thought of parliamentary democracy.
If we want to understand England and its religion, we need to work out what this means. It means that the Church has always been seen as an essential part of our social and political order — much more important than party politics.
More here-
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/charlesmoore/9687269/The-unifying-power-that-inspires-our-nation.html?fb
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