Canada will no longer refer to monarch as ‘Defender of the Faith’
King Charles, Canada’s head of state, will no longer include the phrase “Defender of the Faith” in his official royal title in Canada.
A change to Canada’s Royal Styles and Titles Act was first previewed in a brief mention on the final page of last month’s federal budget document, but that quick hint did not lay out exactly the new king’s full title.
The new language was revealed late Monday when the Liberal government published its notice of the Ways and Means Motion for this spring’s budget implementation bill — the legislation that actually brings into force the measures Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced on March 28.
The new title will read: “Charles the Third, by the Grace of God King of Canada and His other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth.” The title for his mother as the Queen of Canada, last updated in 1985 legislation, was “Queen Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom, Canada and Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.”
In addition to dropping the religious role, the revised title also deletes a reference to Charles as King of the United Kingdom — an update consistent with Canada’s status as an independent country among the 14 other countries that share the same monarch. ”The Parliament of Canada assents to the issue by His Majesty of His Royal Proclamation under the Great Seal of Canada establishing for Canada the following Royal Style and Titles,” the short text of the upcoming legislation reads. Source:cbc.ca
Saturday, April 18, 2026
