Hi MEE,
No, the English royal family is not Catholic, they are members of the Church of England. The Church of England is part of the Anglican Communion, a worldwide church including the Anglican Church of Australia, the Anglican Church of Canada, the Protestant Episcopal Church of the USA, the Anglican Church in Africa and many other churches and provinces throughout the world.
The Anglican Communion (with 70-80 million members worldwide) is led by the archbishop of Canterbury as their "primus inter pares" or "first among equals." Each member-church or province is autonomous, led by their own bishops and enjoy a large amount of theological freedom, but all are in communion with the See of Canterbury and that see's archbishop. The present archbishop of Canterbury is Dr. George Carey.
The current king or queen of England is considered the temporal authority of the Church of England (but not of the whole Anglican Communion), while the archbishop of Canterbury is considered the spiritual authority of that church (as well as of the entire Anglican Communion).
The Anglican Communion claims itself to be "catholic and reformed" in doctrine and theology. There is a wide spectrum of beliefs and practices within the communion. You will find both "high church" Anglicans (or Anglo-Catholics) who are very closely related to the Catholic Church in doctrine and liturgy as well as "low church" Anglicans who are generally more evangelical and Protestant in doctrine and liturgy.
Anglicanism has had an interesting relationship with the Catholic Church throughout the years. The foundation of Anglicanism lies in the story of King Henry VIII (1491-1547).
Although Henry VIII won the title "Fidei Defensor" ("Defender of the Faith") from Pope Leo X in 1521 for his denouncement of Lutheranism, in 1534 Henry declared himself "supreme head on earth of the Church of England" after Pope Clement VII refused to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, who had "failed" to bear him a son. For this he was excommunicated by the Catholic Church.
Under the leadership of Thomas Cranmer (archbishop of Canterbury) and Thomas Cromwell (vice-regent), Henry VIII led the Church of England with an antipapal, quasi-Lutheran course of reform eventually dissolving monastaries (1536, 1539) and printing an English Bible (1535). Catholic leaders such as Thomas More and the bishop of Rochester, John Fisher were executed (both in 1535) on Henry's orders.
Through the colonial power of England, the Church of England's missionaries established churches and provinces throughout the world over the years. Today, all these churches and provinces are united as the Anglican Communion. The Protestant Episcopal Church of the USA (aka the Episcopal Church), with it's 2.5 million members, is one such church.
Today, in spite of past events, relations between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion are "strong and cordial". At the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), the Catholic Church recognized that, among the seperated churches that guard, in part, the Catholic tradition and structures, the Anglican Communion "occupies a special place" (Decree on Ecumenism, n. 13).
For a time after Vatican II, there were even rumors that the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion were looking into the possibility of some sort of reunification. These rumors proved to be baseless and now the Catholic Church, although still "in dialogue" with the Anglican Communion, acknowledges that a large "obstacle to growth in communion" came about with the Anglicans' decision to ordain women to the priesthood and episcopate in 1992.
As far as my "comments", the reason I know so much about the Anglican Communion is because, at one point and time, I seriously considered becoming Episcopalian. This was on my spiritual journey that eventually led me to "cross the Tiber" and reconcile to the Catholic Church.
I was attracted to the Episcopal Church because I had come to an appreciation of liturgical worship, Apostolic succession and the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The "high church" (or Anglo-Catholic) wing of the Episcopal Church allowed me to embrace these beliefs I had come to know as true and important but, at the same time, to remain "Protestant". Becoming Catholic was a big step I was unwilling to take at the time (for family and personal reasons).
I was keenly aware of the predominate liberal element in the theology and beliefs of many Episcopalians, but I dismissed them as personal beliefs and appealed to "soul liberty". There are actually theologically conservative Episcopals and I thought I could be one of them.
In the end, however, I could not escape or talk myself around the allowance of women into the priesthood and episcopate which I did not agree with, not to mention the growing mass of Episcopalians that want to institute church blessed "unions" of homosexual couples. I guess in some regards I could say that "Bishop" Spong helped me to see the truth of Rome.
Sorry about my lengthy post.
God Bless.
In Officio Agnus,
Deacon's Son