Roman charges
Court Circular , Issue 1648 'Flunkey' writes… PRINCE William's attendance at the Pope's funeral wrecked the weekend he had planned around the FA Cup semis.

He may have grumbled that royals traditionally avoided papal requiems, sending senior Catholic peers in their place, until 2005 when his dad, whose faith is a curious blend of traditions (not all of them Christian), attended the funeral of John Paul II.

Secular vision
The ornate ceremonial in Rome is likely to have hardened William, more accustomed to the low church rituals of royal chapels, in his determination that his will be a simpler and secular monarchy.

Having avoided an elaborate investiture as Prince of Wales, he would prefer a basic crowning without religious oaths and certainly no lengthy promises to protect the rights of Church of England clergy, too many of whom he feels have interpreted "suffer the little children" literally.

And his far more conservative father is coming to the end of his tether with them too: one of the unintended consequences of the Makin Review into sadist John Smyth could be the demise of a national church.

Justin Welby's resignation as archbishop of Canterbury was dealt with via flunkeys, Brian being "too busy" to take his calls. He had no time for the traditional farewell audience; the Royal Victorian Chain, given to every retiring ABC since it was founded in 1902, was not conferred. Brian also failed to offer Welby's stand-in, the tainted Stephen Cottrell of York, an audience.

Canterbury travails
Adding to the sense of distance, while the cardinals will soon disappear into Conclave and emerge with a new pope, it is expected to be November, a year after Welby announced he was going, before the Church of England gets a new archbishop.

Largely unnoticed, the government tested the mood for reform in April by lifting the ban on Roman Catholics serving as lord high commissioner of the Church of Scotland, a personal appointment of the monarch. The sky didn't fall in and Lady Elish Angiolini will soon become the first Catholic to hold the post.

Scaling back the establishment role of the Church of England could easily follow. An attempt to lift the ban on a Roman Catholic becoming monarch – something Labour last mentioned in its 2010 manifesto and former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg swerved in his 2013 succession reforms – could potentially follow.

A new reformation is much easier when the See of Canterbury is vacant, York is largely invisible, the bishops are weakened and the next monarch (and possibly the present one) are all for it.