 Holdsworth was strongly criticised by Gavin Ashenden, former Honorary Chaplain to the Queen, who stated the comment was "unkind" and "profoundly un-Christian" and added this was the "theological equivalent of the curse of the wicked fairy in one of the fairytales".Holdsworth replied that the controversial blog post in question was two years old, and "was entirely about the church and its policies around LGBT inclusion" and not about the Royal family.However, he did offer an apology, stating