King Charles is praised for his ‘convening’ power during an interfaith meeting at Buckingham Palace

The King was hailed for his ‘convening’ power during an interfaith meeting at Buckingham Palace today.

Charles, 75, brought together faith leaders from across the UK to meet in the palace’s Blue Drawing Room to find ways to help different religions work together.

He sat with representatives from faiths including Sikh, Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities for around an hour.

It comes as the war in Gaza rages and tens of thousands of people have been attending marches in London.

Charles was told how inter-faith leaders wanted to build on the close work forged in response to Covid-19, reach young people at schools and enable teachers to discuss issues such as the Gaza conflict and facilitate mentoring programmes for women.

King Charles III hosts a gathering of UK community and faith leaders at Buckingham Palace

Akeela Ahmed MBE, from the Muslim community in London, sat with the King and told him there was a ‘need for women to have programmes of leadership and mentoring’ in interfaith issues.

Speaking afterwards, she said: ‘The King is here to act as a convenor and facilitator and it is clear he cares a lot about the communities.

‘With the King convening and facilitating, it encourages us to step out and come together to ease the impact on tensions.’

Canon Doctor Andrew Smith, Director of Interfaith Relations in Birmingham, said: ‘There’s been lots of good interfaith relationships over the years, particularly during Covid-19. 

‘Geo-politics affects this and straining relationships. People are really feeling hurt and angry and really struggling.

‘Having the King means this is being taken seriously. His questions were genuinely engaged questions and it gives enormous encouragement. We’ve got to keep things going.’

Meanwhile, Jodie Franks, of Stand Up! Education Against Discrimination, representing the Jewish community, said afterwards: ‘I spoke to the King about the importance of interfaith relations on a local level to young people specifically in a school setting.’ 

Her group sees people from Jewish and Muslim communities visit schools to speak about Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.

She added: ‘We find that educators are nervous to broach these difficult topics and don’t feel confident to have conversations in classrooms so children are not having these conversations in the safe space of the classroom but in corridors instead.’ 

The meeting was to discuss the challenges their communities face, and the ways in which greater cohesion and fellowship can be fostered among them

King Charles, 75, engaged in conversation with a number of individuals seated at a round table

The King met with several people from various UK communities at Buckingham Palace today

He took part in a round table discussion about the challenges these communities face

King Charles listened attentively as individuals expressed their thoughts during the round table discussion

The King invited members from various women-led UK communities and faith leaders to Buckingham Palace

The gathering at Buckingham Palace follows The King’s visit to Lambeth Palace Library in November, where His Majesty joined leaders from across the UK’s communities to mark Inter Faith Week, which aims to strengthen relations at all levels.

It has also emerged that interfaith leaders will join the Windsor Leadership Programme at Windsor Castle, where senior leaders from all faiths will explore ‘faith, trust and friendship’.

The group of 18 faith leaders, which is invitation-only, will meet at Windsor Castle to ‘explore the complex challenges troubling our nation’ and ‘discuss how we, as leaders, can positively change our troubled society for the better in this era of toxic behaviour.’

The conversations will be confidential and will meet for the first time in the New Year. While it is not directly convened by the King, the project very much has his blessing.