Our Royal Patron in Congress

Laura Barry
General
29 Apr 2026
23
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King Charles III on faith, friendship and a story across the Atlantic

On 28 April 2026, His Majesty King Charles III addressed a Joint Meeting of Congress in Washington. The visit marked the 250th anniversary year of the Declaration of Independence, a fitting moment for a speech about history, friendship and the ties between nations. As SPCK’s Royal Patron, the King’s words carried a particular meaning for us.

What stayed with us was not the ceremony, but the quieter invitation beneath it: to be steadied by faith, to honour friendship, and to live with hope.

Faith crossing the Atlantic

SPCK's beginnings were shaped by London and America. In 1698, five friends met at Lincoln’s Inn as Thomas Bray prepared to leave for Maryland. Their concern was practical: what would happen to the work once Bray had sailed? Who would keep sending books, encouraging learning and strengthening faith? From that meeting came the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

More than three centuries later, we are no longer five friends around a table. But we are still trying to carry on what they began: publishing books that help readers think deeply, pray honestly and live faithfully.

That is why the speech in Washington did not feel as far away as it looked on the map. Before SPCK had offices, imprints or book lists, it had a simple conviction: books can travel further than their senders.

They travel further than we realise: across oceans, across generations and into lives. They are opened by children at bedtime, explored in study groups, packed into bags for journeys, and returned to in quiet moments of need. They meet readers where they are: in curiosity, doubt, learning and faith. And sometimes, at just the right moment, they give language for God, grief, hope and the courage to begin again.

A royal connection through the generations

Our royal connection reaches almost as far back. In 1695, Queen Anne, then Princess Anne, gave £44 to support Bray’s plan to send books to the American colonies. It was a practical gift that travelled further than anyone could have known. A few years later, SPCK was founded.

Queen Victoria became Patron in 1839, beginning a royal connection that has continued through the generations. In his address, the King also remembered his late mother speaking in the same chamber in 1991. Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II also served as SPCK’s Patron through a long reign shaped by faith, duty and service. Today, we are grateful that King Charles III carries that patronage forward as our Royal Patron.

The King described Christian faith as “a firm anchor and daily inspiration”. He also spoke of Easter as the season that most strengthens his hope, and of the need for compassion, peace and deeper understanding. Those words speak directly to SPCK’s work today, where faith is not only inherited. It is shared, taught, read and lived.

Books for the journey

That is our work today. Some books help a child meet a Bible story for the first time. Some help a minister prepare for a Sunday sermon. Some sit beside a hospital bed offering words of comfort. Others rest on a bedside table when a reader is looking for faithful company.

We publish books because words matter. But what we hope for is that a reader, somewhere, finds the words they need. A sentence underlined in a difficult week. A chapter passed to a friend. A prayer read when no other words will come. In a world of loud opinions and instant answers, patience, friendship and books matter more than ever. They ask us to slow down long enough to listen. To one another, and to God.

For us, this is the story beneath the speech. A meeting at Lincoln’s Inn becomes books sent to Maryland. A royal gift becomes a society still publishing more than three centuries later. And a speech in Washington reminds us what faith can do when it is shared, taught, read and lived. That is how faith is handed on, one reader at a time.

For anyone who would like to keep reading, we have gathered the King’s speech, SPCK’s history and a few books connected to these themes.