OPINION:
When Buckingham Palace confirmed that King Charles III would not be issuing a Christian message for Easter this year, it sparked controversy and talk around the world about the growing influence of Islam in the United Kingdom.
And rightly so.
When the king of England also carries the title of “Defender of the Faith” — and has, for almost 500 years — it’s only common sense to ask: what faith?
The rising Muslim population of the United Kingdom has put that question at the forefront.
In March of 2025, the Muslim Council of Britain reported that while Christians make up the largest faith group in the United Kingdom, at around 47 percent, those who worship Allah are rapidly growing in population.
“All the minority faiths are growing in population, but the fastest rate is for Muslims,” MCB found. “There are more Muslims than all the other minority faiths put together. The Muslim population increased by 1.2 million between 2011 and 2021. This accounts for 32 percent of the overall growth of the U.K. population in these ten years.”
Meanwhile, the number of those who self-identify as “No religion” stands at 38 percent, watering down Christian values and societal influences further. Add to that the growing number of Muslim women in Britain who are of childbearing age, and shifting demographics in the country are taking place at a rapid pace.
“For the first time in census recording,” MCB wrote, “the majority of Muslims are U.K. born (50 percent), but this is higher in some cities, e.g. Bradford 65 percent, Waisall 61 percent and Oldham 59 percent.”
A key takeaway?
“There is a shift in the makeup from first-generation immigrants to the born-and-bred Muslim Britons,” MCB wrote.
Enter Easter 2026.
Enter the decision of the “Defender of Faith” to shy away from issuing an Easter message, and instead take part in a Maundy Service to distribute gifts to 77 men and 77 women in honor of their Christian service and charitable contributions to their communities.
Enter that decision, that came on the heels of last year’s Buckingham Palace message on Easter that mixed the Judeo-Christian with the Islam — that saw Charles speaking of the “Jewish ethic of caring for the stranger and those in need” and how that reflects “a deep human instinct echoed in Islam and other religious traditions.”
Then combine that with Buckingham Palace’s public issuance of a Ramadan message this year — and a state dinner that saw Charles send “heartfelt best wishes” to the Muslim community — and the welcoming of the Syrian president, who’s a former member of al Qaeda, to the palace for a meeting with the royals, and it’s increasingly clear: Islam’s influences in the U.K. are growing.
“‘The monarch was excited and ready to deliver [this year’s] Easter message, but controversy surrounding the royal family intervened,’ an insider claimed,” Geo News wrote. What controversy? The report didn’t say.
But it seems obvious that the more the Muslim population grows in Britain, and the fewer citizens self-identify as Christian or as those of a faith at all, the more controversial it is for political and government leaders to speak openly of the very values that contribute to Western civilization at all. And if they can’t speak of it, there will come a time when they can’t act on it. The more Christianity is muted, the more the very foundation of Western freedoms will fall.
And America should realize this same societal shift can occur here as well.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “God-Given Or Bust: Defeating Marxism and Saving America With Biblical Truths,” is available by clicking HERE.
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