1: Marriage is between a man and a woman until death;

2: Homosexual practice is rejected as incompatible with Scripture; and

3): The legitimizing or blessing of same-sex unions is ill advised as is the ordination of those involved in same-gender relationships.

The Anglican Communion has managed to break -- willingly break, openly break, repeatedly break, unrepentantly break -- those basic three tenets of Lambeth 1.10.

Marriage between a man and a woman until death is winked at even among such high-profile Anglicans as King Edward VIII, and the current, the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, and the Duke of Sussex.

At this point, Prince Harry is a minor Royal and he will never become King Henry IX. He is now sixth in the line of royal succession to the throne of England and has stepped back from the Royal family to become his version of Joe Six Pack in America.

But as an Anglican, as a member of the Church of England, Prince Harry married a divorced American, just like his great-great-uncle Edward VIII did. In December 1936, Edward gave up his crown, which he wore for less than a year, to become the Duke of Windsor so he could marry soon-to-be twice-divorced Wallis Simpson.

THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND STANDS HER GROUND
In 1936, the Church of England stood her ground. At the time, the CofE did not allow the divorced to remarry in church if their former spouse was still living.

For this reason, Edward abdicated the throne because his marriage to Wallis Simpson would cause a constitutional crisis due to the Church of England's firm stance on marriage rules.

In 1935, the Joint Committee on the Convocations of Canterbury and York affirmed that "in no circumstances can Christian men or women remarry during the lifetime of a wife or husband without a breach of the principles by which the institution of marriage is governed according to Christ's teaching."

This declarative was written in 1935, during the reign of King George V. Edward became king in January 1936 upon the death of his father, King George.

It was obvious that the Church of England would not bless any marriage between the new King and his heartthrob, the divorcing Wallis.

Her second husband, Ernest Simpson, divorced his first wife in order to marry Wallis in a civil wedding in London in 1928. By 1936, she was in the midst of divorcing him because she had caught a Prince of Wales, who turned into the King of England.

Wallis' first husband, Earl Spencer, a World War I US Navy pilot, married Miss Bessie Wallis Warfield at Christ Episcopal Church in Baltimore in 1916. Christ Church was Miss Warfield's home parish. She was an Episcopalian. They divorced in 1927. Less than a year later, she was married to Ernest Simpson.

In 1931, Mrs. Ernest Simpson first met the Prince of Wales.

Edward, then called David, the Prince of Wales, and Mrs. Simpson quickly became an item and the heir apparent to the English throne began an adulterous love affair with the American socialite divorcee who was, at the time, still married to her second husband, Ernest Simpson.

Once David became King Edward VIII, he remained enamored with Wallis Simpson. He was determined to marry her no matter the cost to himself or to his country or to his church.

The new King was hopelessly and passionately in love with Mrs. Simpson with reckless disregard of the consequences. Wallis' interlocutory degree of divorce -- the decree nisi -- was issued on October 27, 1936 by the Ipswich Assize Court, and the final decree was expected in May 1937.

The Archbishop of Canterbury was facing a conundrum. Edward's coronation was scheduled for May 12, 1937, and the King was intent on marrying Wallis immediately following the finalization of her divorce from Ernest Simpson. The final decree finally came through on May 3, 1937.

Archbishop of Canterbury Cosmo Lang was facing the possibility of crowning Edward as King of England and then giving Holy Communion to a man who was married to a twice-divorced woman with two living ex-husbands.

The Coronation of the king or queen of England is a very religious event wrapped in the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer Service of Holy Communion.

The Archbishop of Canterbury was not the only one who was having trouble with the adulterous courtship of King Edward.

Sir Henry Channon, a conservative member of Parliament said: "... the country, or much of it, would not accept Queen Wallis with two live husbands scattered about."

At the time, British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, who also was not impressed by the King's dalliances, said: "... the people expect a higher standard from their King." In 1936, Baldwin was Prime Minister under three kings: Edward VIII as well as his father George V and his brother George VI. Thus 1936 became known as the Year of Three Kings.

In an attempt to avoid a constitutional crisis, the British government looked into allowing a "morganatic marriage," meaning that the marriage would be "legal" in the letter of the law, but not in the eyes of the church. Wallis would remain a private citizen, she would not become a part of the Royal family, and any children she bore would not be of Royal blood nor in the Royal Line of Succession. She would never become Queen Wallis, nor would she be titled Her Royal Highness, much less Her Royal Majesty.

The morganatic marriage scheme was rejected by Prime Minister Baldwin's 16-member cabinet at 10 Downing Street on December 2. On December 10, 1937 King Edward VIII abdicated in favor of his brother, Bertie, who became King George VI.

"But you must believe me when I tell you that I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King, as I would wish to do, without the help and support of the woman I love," King Edward VIII said as he stepped down to become the Duke of Windsor.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, who was considered the "Voice of Christian England," was disappointed in Edward's actions. He said that Edward VIII had received a "high and sacred trust from God", but that the King was "craving for private happiness."

At the time, as King, Edward himself was the Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England. But he learned that even he, the King of England, had to follow the teachings of the church where he was the monarchical head.

"Even more strange and sad is that he (King Edward) should have sought his happiness in a manner inconsistent with the Christian principles of marriage," Archbishop Lang lamented.

In 1936, the Church of England's commitment to the sanctity of marriage stood firm. It did not waiver nor crack nor break. An earthly king had to yield to the spiritual authority of his church.

A monarchical constitutional crisis was avoided when Edward stepped down as king. However, the newly-created Duke of Windsor was still intent on marrying Wallis and making her his duchess and he wanted the Church of England to do the honors.

Canon Leonard Martin Andrews, the Chaplain to the former King, had to refuse officiating at Edward's upcoming wedding because he was still bound by the Joint Committee on the Convocations of Canterbury and York marriage regulations.

"It would be letting the Church down, and as long as I hold an office in the Church I must keep the rules," the King's former chaplain said.

King George VI, the Duke of Windsor's brother, as the new Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England could not support a Church of England marriage ceremony for his brother.

"I can't treat this as just a private family matter," King George told his older brother.

He also said that Edward's younger brothers, the dukes of Gloucester and Kent, were forbidden from attending the upcoming wedding. In fact, no member of the Royal family nor any Royal chaplain could participate.

ENGLISH VICAR LOSES HIS PARISH

Of course, there's always someone who is willing to go against the clearly defined church rules. That someone was the Rev. Robert Anderson Jardine, the vicar of Saint Paul's in Darlington.

Edward, the Duke of Windsor, made Wallis his duchess at a civil ceremony conducted by the Mayor of Monts in Château de Cande, France. Immediately following the civil ceremony, the English vicar conducted an Anglican marriage service.

Following their wedding, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor lived out their lives exiled from the British Royal family in France. The rift was never fully healed.

The Church of England vicar officiated at the Duke and Duchess of Windsor's marriage ceremony on his own authority and initiative. As so, he was soundly denounced by the Bishop of Fulham Basil Batty, who had episcopal oversight over northern and central Europe. The Bishop of Durham Herbert Henson telegraphed Fr. Jardine saying that he was "without episcopal license or consent to unite the Duke of Windsor and Mrs. Simpson."

The Church of England also chimed in and said: "the Rev. R.A. Jardine has no authority to officiate outside his parish and diocese."

Backing Fr. Jardine's action was the Protestant Truth Society. "Mr. Jardine is quite fearless in his advocacy of any cause which he judges right and would pursue his own line regardless of the consequences to himself," said J.A. Kensit, the leader of the organization.

Fr. Jardine, himself, was a member of the group, and he did pay a heavy consequence for what he did in France.

Upon returning to England, the vicar found he was removed from his parish in Darlington, and he was never given another Church of England assignment.

In 1937, the Church of England's position on marriage was clear. "No divorced person should be remarried in a religious ceremony. Not even a former King, never married himself, could marry a divorced woman according to the Marriage Service in the Prayer Book."

The Rev. Robert Anderson Jardine paid the price for going against the Church of England's commitment to biblical marriage.

ROYAL MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE

Prince Harry, the Duke of Windsor's great-great-nephew, is also the grandson to the Queen of England, who is the current Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England. A church which, through Lambeth 1.10, "upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union."

Queen Elizabeth II, herself, faithfully lived out her marriage vows to Prince Phillip for more than 73 years. Princess Elizabeth was married on November 20, 1947 to Prince Philip of Greece & Denmark. They are third cousins through Queen Victoria, their common great-great-grandmother. Queen Elizabeth's marriage ended on April 9, 2021, when Prince Philip, the love of her life, died. She stayed the course through the complications of royal life, thick and thin, better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, only parting at death.

However, three of her four children -- Prince Charles (divorced 1996); Princess Anne (divorce 1992); and Prince Andrew (divorced 1996) have gone through divorce and two -- Prince Charles (remarried 2005 in a civil ceremony); and Princess Anne (remarried 1992 by the Church of Scotland) -- have remarried. Only Prince Edward's marriage in 1999 has remained stable.

The Church of Scotland has allowed remarriage since 1959. It is Presbyterian in nature, so its understanding of the sacramentality of marriage is different than that of the Church of England.

By going to the Church of Scotland for her remarriage, Princess Anne was able to skirt around the Church of England's prohibition on remarriage. However, the Church of England's General Synod did eventually vote to allow remarriage in 2002. This is why Prince Charles was able to civilly remarry in 2005 and have his new marriage blessed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams after the remarriage restrictions were loosened.

Because Queen Elizabeth is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, she chose not to attend her son's civil wedding ceremony. However, she did attend the Archbishop of Canterbury's service blessing of the new marriage.

The marriage blessing took place in a televised event at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. The Queen did attend that service. In 2018, the weddings of both Prince Harry and his cousin Princess Eugenie took place in that chapel. And in 2021, their common grandfather Prince Philip's funeral was also held at Windsor Castle.

In the early 1950s, Queen Elizabeth's own sister, Princess Margaret, was forbidden from marrying Captain Peter Townsend, a divorced man. For her to have married Capt. Townsend, Princess Margaret would have given up her place in the Royal line of succession, not be able to receive Holy Communion after her marriage, and any children born to the union would be considered "illegitimate" since hers would not be considered a valid marriage in the eyes of the Church.

At the time in the mid-50s, Princess Margaret was third in the line of Royal succession following Prince Charles and Princess Anne. Her sister was the Queen of England, the Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England. So, the Queen had the final say so on her sister's marriage.

Princess Margaret finally gave up on wanting to marry Captain Townsend in 1955 when the obstacles became too great. She did get married in 1960, but was then divorced in 1978 and remained single the rest of her life.

NO PROBLEM HERE

Lambeth 1.10 was passed in 1998. One of its basic tenets is still "Marriage is between a man and a woman until death." That has not changed.

Twenty years later, in 2018, Prince Harry married Meghan Markle, a divorced Hollywood B-list actress. Just as his great-great-uncle Edward VIII was enamored with an American divorcee, Prince Harry was smitten with an American divorcee. Edward gave up the throne for love and Harry gave up England for love.

When Meghan Markle burst on the scene, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby had to do some fancy dancing to get past Lambeth 1.10.

In 2011, the American actress married Trevor Engleson, a Hollywood film producer and talent manager. Their broken marriage ended in 2013 in a no-fault divorce, both citing irreconcilable differences as the grounds for their divorce.

Theoretically, the divorce should have presented a problem with the Church of England when a Royal Prince, sixth in line to the throne, seeks to get married to a divorcee.

When the media asked the Archbishop of Canterbury if the American divorce would become a stumbling block, he replied: "The Church of England has rules about how you deal with that and we've dealt with that.
Clearly, it's not a problem."

Continuing, he added: "The Church of England has a very clear statement on the nature of when people who have been divorced and who have a previous partner still living can get married and we went through that."

"In certain circumstances the Church of England accepts that a divorced person may marry again in church and this has been the case since 2002," the Church of England website explains.

Although the Church of England teaches that marriage is "for life," in accordance with Lambeth 1.10, it allows the clergy personal discretion to decide to officiate at a remarriage or allow the use of their church for the remarriage ceremony.

In this case, the clergyman involved was the Archbishop of Canterbury and he used his discretion to go forward with the nuptials at St. George's Chapel.

Once the divorce issue was swept under the rug, then the Archbishop Canterbury could move forward with Sacra mentalizing the soon-to-be-bride.

In addition to being a divorced person, which the Church of England ultimately winked at, Meghan Markle was unbaptized and therefore not confirmed. The Archbishop of Canterbury baptized her and confirmed her in preparation to his officiating at the televised wedding which drew 60 million viewers worldwide.

The preacher at the May 19 wedding was Episcopal Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, who left the Royal audience stunned following his animated and fiery sermon.

The bride, who wore white at her second wedding, now has two children -- Master Archie and Miss Lilibet. Archie was baptized as an infant by the Church of England. Lilibet, who was born in the United States and is now a toddler, has yet to be baptized either by the Church of England or The Episcopal Church.

WINK, WINK!

Another of the Lambeth 1.10 tenets is the caution in the legitimizing of or the blessing of same-sex unions and ordination of those involved in same-gender relationships.

"Like all Lambeth Conference resolutions, (Lambeth 1.10) it is not legally binding on all Provinces of the Communion, including the Church of England, though it commends an essential and persuasive view of the attitude of the Communion," explained William Nye, the Secretary General of the Archbishops' Council.

"The Anglican Communion is a communion, it is not a hierarchy," the Archbishop Welby reiterated during a pre-Lambeth news conference. "We don't give each other orders, our Provinces are autonomous but interdependent. And that means we can't order each other around, and I praise God for that."

So now it is a free-for-all in the Anglican Communion on which Provinces allow for the same-sex marriages or clergy.

Those Anglican Provinces that are currently allowing same-sex marriages and blessings or support civil unions include: Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, Scotland, Australia, South India, Southern Africa, the United States, Ireland, and Wales. Provinces still discerning the practice, but leaning towards allowing such ceremonies, include: England, Mexico and Korea.

Although the Church of England has given its blessing to marriage between two people of the same sex, there is a caveat. The couple can receive a blessing only if they were a man and a woman when they originally took their marriage vows.

In 2019, the CofE General Synod announced that same-gender couples may remain married and recognized as married after one spouse goes through gender transitioning provided that both spouses identified as opposite sex at the time of their marriage, otherwise a union would be considered homosexual in nature.

Anglican Provinces that also allow gay clergy include: Southern Africa, Australia, the United States, Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, Australia, Wales, Brazil and Canada.

In the United States, The Episcopal Church not only has just gay and lesbian clergy, including out and proud bishops, they also have a growing number of transgendered clergy. The Church of South India also has transgendered clergy.

NOT INVITED FOR THE WRONG REASON

The crux of the matter for the upcoming Lambeth Conference is the Lambeth 1.10 tenet: "Homosexual practice is rejected as incompatible with Scripture."

In 2008, Archbishop Canterbury Rowan Williams did not invite Bishop Vicky Gene Robinson (IX New Hampshire) to Lambeth.

The reason given was should Bishop Robinson be invited, other Anglican bishops -- particularly of the Global South -- would not attend.

"I have to reserve the right to withhold or withdraw invitations from bishops whose appointment, actions or manner of life have caused exceptionally serious division or scandal within the Communion," Archbishop Williams explained. "I do not say this lightly, but I believe that we need to know as we meet that each participant recognises and honours the task set before us and that there is an adequate level of mutual trust between us about this."

The Archbishop of Canterbury personally issued 880 invitations to the 2008 Lambeth Conference and 670 bishops responded. More than 200 bishops stayed away even with Bishop Robinson being held at bay.

Two other Anglican bishops were also cut from the Lambeth Conference invitation list, including bishops Nolbert Kunonga of Harare, Zimbabwe; and Martyn Minns of the United States.

"It feels as if, instead of leaving the 99 sheep in search of the one, my chief pastor and shepherd, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has cut me out of the herd," Bishop Robinson complained.

Archbishop Williams' reasoning not to invite Bishop Robinson to his only-convened Lambeth Conference was based on the fact other bishops would bolt and not attend his confab.

Five GAFCON archbishops did choose not to go to Archbishop Williams' Lambeth Conference including: Peter Akinola (III Nigeria); Emmanuel Kolini (II Rwanda); Benjamin Nzimbi (IV Kenya); Henry Orombi (IV Uganda); and Gregory Venables (II Southern Cone). Other GAFCON bishops who distanced themselves from the 2008 event were Peter Jensen (XI Sydney); and Michael Nazir-Ali (CVI Rochester in England).

Being worried that bishops will refuse to come to your decennial event is the wrong reason to tell Bishop Robinson, "No, you cannot attend this worldwide meeting of Anglican bishops."

The Archbishop of Canterbury was more concerned with saving face before his brother-bishops of the Global South then with maintaining the integrity of Lambeth 1.10 which clearly teaches that homosexual activity is incompatible with Scripture, and out of an abundance of concern for Bishop Robinson's soul.

At the time, Bishop Robinson was in an ongoing homosexual relationship with another man. They have since divorced. It is for this reason, and this reason alone, that Archbishop Williams should have turned Bishop Robinson away, not because episcopal feathers would be ruffled in the Global South.

Now, Archbishop Welby has fallen into the same trap. There are six practicing lesbian and gay bishops -- four from the United States, one from Canada, and one from Wales -- who are possibly headed to the Lambeth Conference with their bed partners in tow, including: Thomas Brown (X Maine); Deon Johnson (XI Missouri); Bonnie Perry (XI Michigan); Mary Glasspool (New York-assisting); Anglican Church of Canada Bishop Kevin Robertson (York-Scarborough in Toronto area bishop); and Church of Wales Bishop Cherry Vann (XI Monmouth).

And already, four African bishops have indicated they will not attend Lambeth 2022 because of the sexual immorality of the bishops who are going.

The African archbishops who have signaled they are not attending Lambeth 2022 are: Jackson Ole Sapit (VI Kenya); Henry Ndukuba (V Nigeria); Laurent Mbanda (IV Rwanda); and Stephen Kaziimba (IX Uganda).

But this time it is not the bishops who have been restricted from attending Lambeth, it is their bed partners who have not been invited to attend Lambeth events as the bishop's spouse. They will hang around the fringes of Lambeth in the same way Bishop Robinson did at Lambeth 2008.

"Invitations have been sent to every active bishop. That is how it should be -- we are recognizing that all those consecrated into the Office of Bishop should be able to attend," noted Anglican Communion Secretary General Josiah Idowu-Fearon.

"The invitation process has also needed to take account of the Anglican Communion's position on marriage which is that it is the lifelong union of a man and a woman," he continued, after 1,000 invitations to Lambeth have been sent out. "That is the position as set out in Resolution 1.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference. Given this, it would be inappropriate for same-sex spouses to be invited to the Conference."

Instead of standing on the strength and integrity of Lambeth 1.10, Justin Welby is lamenting that the gay and lesbian bishops cannot officially bring their sexual partners.

"I feel I owe you an explanation of my decision not to invite your spouse to the Lambeth Conference ..." he wrote to one of the American bishops. "... a decision that I am well aware will cause you pain, and which I regret deeply."

If the Anglican Communion's position on marriage is that it is the lifelong union between a man and a woman as set forth in Resolution 1.10, then it should be the bishops, themselves, who should be excluded from Lambeth 2022 because it is they, the bishops, who are not living in a lifelong relationship between a man and a woman.

Each gay or lesbian bishop is living in an active sexual relationship between two men or two women which is not in keeping with Lambeth 1.10. This brings shame and ridicule upon Lambeth 2022.

So, excluding the gay and lesbian bed partners from Lambeth is not the solution. Start by excluding the bishops and their partners will stay home.

Mary Ann Mueller is a journalist living in Texas. She is a regular contributor to VirtueOnline