23 JANUARY 1993, Page 30

A fine point

Sir: Mr Ivor Bulmer-Thomas (who is mostly right about everything) takes me to task (Letters, 16 January) for saying that the Church of England in its present form is the product of Henry VIII's divorce from his first wife: well, so it is: the fact that what he was refused by Rome was an annulment is irrelevant. What he took (breaking with Rome in order to get it) was a divorce. Whether or not you think the results were tragic is a matter of judgment.

William Oddie

6 Sunningwell Road, Oxford