The saint, whose story gained a high profile in the play and movie «A Man for All Seasons,» was canonized by the Catholic Church and venerated by English Catholics for standing up to Henry VIII at the time of the Reformation, for which he lost his head in 1535. Some Anglicans, on the other hand, view More as a persecutor of their ancestors.
Now, though, a copy of More´s portrait by the court artist Holbein is to be unveiled by the Prince of Wales in an act of reconciliation on Friday. The prince is opening a new hall next to Chelsea Old Church near the Thames Embankment.
More worshipped at the church daily while he lived nearby, and his first wife, Jane Colt, is buried there.
