Platinum Jubilee: Queen's solid, gentle leadership - Archbishop of Wales

The Queen has been a "constant" for the nation, says the Archbishop of Wales

The Queen has given "rock-solid gentle leadership" that needs to be marked, says the Archbishop of Wales.

Archbishop Andrew John said he recognised she has faced personal challenges in recent years, and public views on the monarchy have changed over time.

He said that could shape the future of Wales' relationship with the royals.

The archbishop said the Church in Wales wishes "Her Majesty every happiness" for the Platinum Jubilee.

He led a special service of thanksgiving for the Platinum Jubilee at St Deiniol's Cathedral in Bangor on Thursday evening, as part of celebrations by the Church in Wales across the country to mark the holiday weekend.

He and his fellow bishops in the church said they gave thanks "for her long reign and the dedicated service she has given to the UK and the Commonwealth" and "particularly appreciate the Queen's fondness of Wales and remember with gratitude her many visits here".

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In an official statement to mark the jubilee, church leaders in Wales added: "Her presence has so often been a source of comfort, reassurance and steadfastness to many as the years have gone by.

"We continue to pray for Her Majesty, that she shall be guided and comforted by her faith and her love of God for the rest of her life."

The Queen has been a "shining example" of service, says Archbishop Andrew John

Speaking to BBC Wales, the archbishop said celebrating the Queen's 70 years on the throne was "a very good and positive thing when we're in a difficult time as a nation, and to have things that really lift our spirits is really welcome".

"There are few people alive today who have known anything other than the reign of Queen Elizabeth II," added the archbishop.

'Beautiful and generous'

"I think the way she has modelled service to all of us - both young and old - has been a shining example of what community commitment looks like.

"So, for us to be able to wish her well on this special occasion for her, especially after the difficulties that she's faced losing her husband, I think this is a really beautiful and generous thing to be doing."

Reflecting on the recent challenges facing the Queen, especially the Duke of York stepping down from his duties in the wake of the US sex assault civil court case, and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex moving to live in America, the archbishop accepted it had been a difficult time.

"I think that there is a sense in which the Royal Family, or the Queen herself, needs in one sense to maintain the dignity of the office and the responsibilities that are hers, but she's a mother and a grandmother, and all of those things feature in a human life as well," he said.

"So we're very conscious that those have been challenges that are personal as well as at a constitutional level.

"Now she would want to look forward to the future and whatever the future holds for her.

"That would not be in any sense to ignore the past, but to find positive things in this special year, moving forward with the monarchy."

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The Duke of Cambridge, in the royal procession for the Trooping the Colour,

The archbishop said he expected the relationship between Wales and the monarchy to reflect changes in Welsh society - including on a possible investiture of a new Prince of Wales in years to come.

"I think the investiture is an interesting subject, and I'm not sure that there is a single mind in Wales about that," he said.

'More self-consciously modern Wales'

"But I think people in Wales have regarded Her Majesty with enormous affection, and they will want to embrace that in the future, and a new monarch.

"When we find ourselves wondering what that looks like in Wales, I'm sure it will be after close consultation and wanting to shape the character of that monarchy to fit a modern, and perhaps more self-consciously modern Wales than was the case 70 years ago."

But the archbishop said this weekend of celebration was about bringing people together.

"It's a celebration of a great event and people will find a way of doing that, that I think represents and characterises their own community.

"I think as we look back at the tumultuous years of her reign, world wars, conflict, changes in society, one of the constants through all of that has been rock-solid gentle leadership that she's offered the nation and it's appropriate that we recognise and mark that."