Respected author and feminist theologian Dr Niamh M. Middleton has been interviewed on multiple BBC Radio stations about why she believes Princess Diana should be canonised.

Dr Middleton, the author of Jesus and Women: Beyond Feminism, published by The Lutterworth Press, says that the late royal should be made the world’s first “patron saint of feminism” in recognition of the gender discrimination she fought throughout her adult life.

Princess Diana, who died 26 years ago this year, was a “true martyr to her sex” and deserves the title more than any other woman this century, claims Dr Middleton.

She should also credited as the posthumous heroine of the #MeToo movement, she adds. 

Dr Middleton, formerly of Dublin City University, is now calling on the Church of England to put in place a mechanism for canonisation similar to that used in the Catholic Church. 

Doing so may help to win back young churchgoers after decades of declining congregations, she says.