The Archbishop of Canterbury has revealed how his son had scolded him for initially refusing to forgive his mother on her deathbed as she tried to apolgise for ‘messing up his life’.
Justin Welby has today spoken publicly about the final few moments he had with his mother Jane Williams before she died in June last year.
The Archbishop says his mother was an ‘alcoholic and troubled’ woman, who tried to apologise for his ‘volatile’ upbringing in the last few days of her life.
She also tried to acknowledge the ‘difficult times we’d had over the years’, which included not telling her son who his real father was until he made the shocking discovery in 2016 via a DNA test.
Mr Welby says he initially dismissed Jane’s words when standing by her bedside because he ‘didn’t feel the same way’, which led his son Pete to take him outside and bluntly explain what she was trying to do.
The leader of the Church of England revealed how Pete had scolded him for having ‘no pastoral skills’ and questioned ‘which idiot had made him the Archbishop of Canterbury?’
Justin Welby has spoken publicly about the final few moments he had with his mother Jane Williams before she died in June last year.
The archbishop says his mother was an ‘alcoholic and troubled’ woman and described how she tried to apologise for his upbringing and acknowledge the ‘difficult times we’d had over the years’ whilst lying on her deathbed
Following some strong words from his recently-ordained child, Mr Welby realised he ‘was in the wrong’ and returned to his mothers’ side say: ‘I forgive.’
Speaking in the Sunday Times, Mr Welby described how his son had scolded him outside his mother’s room, before telling his father: ‘Don’t you realise she is trying to ask for your forgiveness?’
Mr Welby says he acknowledged that his son was right, causing him to return to his mother bedside and listen to what she had to say whilst ‘still frightened of showing too much emotion’.
The archbishop described forgiving his mother as a ‘moment of great peace’, revealing that Jane had said: ‘I shall see god.’, before she passed away.
He thanked his son for helping him understand what his mother was trying to do, writing: ‘I thank Pete for his blunt words at the bedside. I realised I needed to forgive my mother for the pain and confusion of my early years.
‘Debt abolished and endings accepted in the right place set us free from the chains of the past.’
In 2016, Rev Welby discovered he was conceived in an alcohol-fuelled ‘liaison’ between his mother and Winston Churchill’s private secretary, Sir Anthony Montague Browne, and not, as he had always believed, his mother’s first husband, Gavin Welby.
His mother, who married again and later became Lady Williams of Elvel, was one of the prime minister’s personal secretaries and said her liaison with Sir Anthony happened in the days before her marriage to Gavin Welby, on April 4, 1955.
In 2016, she said Welby, whom she described as ‘a very strong, possessive character’, had bullied her into leaving her job and eloping with him to the USA, where his divorce was being finalised.
Then 25, she said she began drinking heavily because of the pressure, adding: ‘I now recognise that during the days leading up to my very sudden marriage, and fuelled by a large amount of alcohol on both sides, I went to bed with Anthony Montague Browne.
‘It appears that the precautions taken at the time didn’t work and my wonderful son was conceived as a result of this liaison.’
The archbishop revealed more about his difficult upbringing today, saying: ‘Throughout my childhood, the pernicious influence of alcohol dependency in both parents led to divorce, hatred, litigation, abuse and cruelty.’
He added that he thought his believed-to-be-father Gavin was a ‘volatile, unpredictable man’ who was addicted to alcohol and tobacco before he died at the age of 21.
Mr Welby says he dealt with the difficulties of his childhood by ‘shutting himself off from the rest of the world’, but also admits he grew up with ‘great privilege and prosperity’.
Gavin Welby and wife Jane Welby with Justin Welby at his christening in 1956
Anthony Montague Browne, Sir Winston Churchill’s secretary and the Archbishop’s father
The Archbishop said he had met his biological father, a decorated wartime RAF pilot, when he was a boy but had never suspected his true paternity.
He had heard rumours but dismissed them because he was born almost exactly nine months after his mother’s marriage to Gavin.
But after The Daily Telegraph revealed its research supported those rumours, he took a DNA test that compared his mouth swabs with hair samples from Sir Anthony, taken from an old hairbrush.
The samples showed a 99.9779 per cent probability that they were father and son.
Jane also sprung another surprise on her son from beyond the grave in January this year, when it was revealed that she had left Mr Welby with a staggering £2.4million.
Probate documents confirmed that Williams had left her entire estate to the Archbishop, who found out the day before his 68th birthday earning him a windfall which was 28 times his annual salary of £85,000.
