King Charles III is risking angering traditionalists and the Right wing in British society by asking Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, a Hindu, to do a reading at his coronation on Saturday in Westminster Abbey.

The liturgy for the coronation issued by Lambeth Palace clearly shows there has been a spirited discussion on what is constitutionally possible and what is not between Charles and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who will conduct the service.

Charles, who wants to be a defender of all faiths and not just “the (Christian) faith”, was prevented from straying from the traditional path while Queen Elizabeth II was alive but now that she is gone, he appears determined to represent Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs as well. At stake is the future of the monarchy.

Welby and the King appear to have reached a compromise. Britain’s high-achieving Indian-origin population is in excess of 2.5 million, while Muslims (among them at least 100,000-150,000 Indians) number 3 million, including about a million of Pakistani origin and 250,000 Bangladeshis.

According to the Lambeth Palace statement authorised by Welby, “the Liturgy will be a Christian act of worship that honours the ancient tradition of anointing and crowning Monarchs. It will also reflect the Monarch’s role while celebrating the character of Britain as it is today and looking forward to the future with hope.

“The Coronation Liturgy has been produced in close consultation with His Majesty The King, and with His Majesty’s Government in particular on the constitutional elements of the service.

“The service will include several new elements that reflect this theme of serving others, as well as recognising and celebrating the contribution of diverse communities to our nation today. For the first time, members of other faith traditions will play an active role in the service.”

White Commonwealth countries, where the King is head of state, such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada, will have reservations about the changes Charles is introducing but India and nations in Africa and the Caribbean will be much more sympathetic.

In Britain, a writer in a Right-wing tabloid warned Charles: “Don’t turn the Coronation into a festival of wokery and virtue signalling... we desperately want the full pageantry, flummery and a celebration of 1,000 years of tradition.

“But the more I learn about the details of the coronation, the more I worry,” the writer said, adding that “many of the pivotal roles will go to trailblazers in gender and racial equality. Attention to minorities is all well and good. But virtue-signalling and slavish attention to snowflakes are not. We monarchists want to revel in the splendour of this occasion, and the King ignores us at his peril.”

Rishi will be reading “a new Epistle for this Coronation, which will be Colossians 1:9-17”, selected by Welby.

The archbishop said that “this passage has been chosen to reflect the theme of service to others, and the loving rule of Christ over all people and all things, which runs through this Coronation Liturgy”.

To those who will wonder, “Why Rishi?”, Welby offered a get-out clause: “Following recent tradition of British Prime Ministers giving readings at State occasions — as Head of the host Nation’s Government — this will be read by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.”

Welby said: “The Presentation of the Regalia will be made by Members of the House of Lords, as well as Senior Bishops in the Church of England. For the first time, some of these items — those which have no Christian meaning or symbolism — will be presented by Peers who belong to different faith traditions: Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism.”

The Armills, gold armlets, for example, will be given to Charles by Syed Kamall, a Muslim; the ring by Narendra Babubhai Patel, a Hindu; and the glove by Indarjit Singh, a Sikh.