The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby is the most senior figure in the Anglican Communion consisting of some 85 million Christians globally.
A few years ago, the 67-year-old confirmed that he was the illegitimate son of a one-time private secretary to Winston Churchill.
At the time he insisted he was not disturbed by it and had always assumed he was a honeymoon baby. He was conceived a few days before the wedding.
Now the Archbishop’s mother, Jane Williams, has sprung another surprise, this time from beyond the grave.
The Archbishop has learned that he has become a multi-millionaire, as his mother left him £2.4million.
As the leader of the Church of England and head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, his annual salary is £85,000 as leader of the Church of England. ‘It’s a life-changing sum,’ the Daily Mail reported.
Newly published documents confirm that Williams, who died last July aged 93, left her entire estate to the Archbishop. He celebrates his 68th birthday on Saturday.
Welby is a friend of Romania and visited the country last year, the first Archbishop of Canterbury to do so since George Carey who visited when Teoctist was the Romanian patriarch.
In 2016, the Archbishop discovered that his biological father was not whiskey salesman Gavin Welby but the late Sir Anthony Montague Browne – who worked for Churchill between 1952 and 1965.
‘This comes as a complete surprise,’ Welby said. ‘I know that I find who I am in Jesus Christ, not in genetics, and my identity in him never changes.”
The Telegraph unearthed the story in 2016 and approached him saying it had found evidence suggesting that Montague Browne was actually his father.
According to the newspaper, the family had long discussed the striking physical resemblance between the Archbishop of Canterbury and Montague Brown. Welby himself was aware of the rumors.
The Telegraph then discussed what they had discovered with Welby, who decided to take a DNA test which showed a 99.9779 percent probability that they were father and son.
His mother Jane also issued a statement saying the news had come as an ‘almost unbelievable shock’, telling The Telegraph the liaison happened ‘fueled by a large amount of alcohol’.
‘It appears that the precautions taken at the time didn’t work and my wonderful son was conceived as a result of this liaison,’ she added.
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