The Bishop of Willesden has apologised after predicting that Prince William's marriage to Kate Middleton would last seven years.
Bishop Pete Broadbent made the prediction in comments he wrote on Facebook.
In a protracted jibe at the Royal family, the bishop expressed his
anger at having to pay for Royal weddings and the “nauseating tosh” that
appears in the media surrounding such events.
“[T]he wedding belongs to the family. It's their celebration. Not
some piece of national flim-flam paid for out of our taxes, for a couple
whose lives are going to be persecuted and spoilt by an ignorant media.
I wish them well, but their nuptials are nothing to do with me. Leave
them to get married somewhere out of the limelight and leave them
alone,” he said.
The Bishop then went on to refer to Prince Charles and Princess Diana
as “Big Ears and the Porcelain Doll” and complained that the Royal
family “cost an arm and a leg”.
He claimed that royalty down the ages had been characterised by “broken marriages and philanderers”.
“I don't care about the Royals. I'm a republican ... As with most
shallow celebrities in our society, they [Prince William and Kate
Middleton] will be set up to fail by the gutter press, who don’t care
about them unless they sell newspapers. And that means hounding them to
death … I give the marriage seven years," he said.
In a public apology issued at lunchtime today, Bishop Broadbent
expressed his regret over his comments and the hurt they may have
caused.
"I have conveyed to Prince Charles and to Prince William and Kate
Middleton my sincere regrets for the distress caused by my remarks and
the subsequent media attention about the forthcoming Royal Wedding. I
recognise that the tone of my language and the content of what I said
were deeply offensive, and I apologise unreservedly for the hurt
caused," he said.
"It was unwise of me to engage in a debate with others on a
semi-public internet forum and to express myself in such language. I
accept that this was a major error of judgement on my part. I wish
Prince William and Kate Middleton a happy and lifelong marriage, and
will hold them in my prayers.”
There have been calls for his resignation from media commentators,
including popular church and society blogger Archbishop Cranmer, who
denounced Bishop Broadbent’s comments as judgemental and spiteful.
“That's precisely what the Established Church needs: generous, humble
and optimistic shepherds of the sheep who set their minds on all that
is noble, pure, lovely and of good report. He really ought to read what
the Bible has to say about soothsaying,” he said.
SIC: CT/UK