A good week for King Charles

Heads would have rolled for less in the old days, but the leading royal Protestant is about to make history by attending a Catholic funeral

September 11, 2025 at 05:00 am

King Charles III during the speech from the throne in the Senate Chamber at the Senate of Canada Building on May 27 2025 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Picture: GETTY IMAGES/AARON CHOWN

A good week for King Charles

King Charles, head of the Church of England, will be the first monarch in 337 years to attend a Catholic funeral in England. He will join a requiem mass at Westminster Cathedral — the largest Catholic church in England and Wales — for the Duchess of Kent, who died last week aged 92. Katharine Kent, as she liked to be known, converted to Catholicism in 1994. The last Catholic king of England was James II, who was deposed in 1688.

A bad week for Alexander Kannemeyer

Stellenbosch municipal official Alexander Kannemeyer, who apparently wanted to oust white male hires by making their lives so difficult they would quit, now faces some difficulties himself. Kannemeyer, the senior HR manager, was suspended last week and faces an independent investigation for racial bullying. He said in a Teams meeting two years ago that it was a “concern” that “every time we appoint somebody and come back and we go to the highest scorer, it is always a white male”. The motion to suspend him was brought by the DA mayor, Jeremy Fasser.