Archbishop Of Canterbury: I Don't Drink Alone

The new Archbishop of Canterbury has revealed he never drinks alone for fear of becoming an alcoholic like his father.

The Most Rev Justin Welby said while he does enjoy a tipple, his wife keeps an eye on his drinking to make sure he does not have one too many.

Asked if he was teetotal in an interview with The Sunday Times Magazine, he replied: "No, absolutely not. I very much enjoy a drink.

"I remember reading that the children of alcoholics have a much better chance themselves of having a dependency problem.

"So Caroline and I have an agreement that she keeps an eye on me, so she'll say if I am going over ... but I have rules myself. I don't drink alone, things like that."

He described his father, Gavin Welby, who died in 1977, as "charming, volatile, unpredictable".

"You never knew what was going to happen," he said.

"It took me a long time after he died to ... think back over my time with him with any equanimity. It had just been all so painful."

Asked if this was because his behaviour was conditioned by his drink problem, he continued: "Yes, very erratic behaviour, very irrational, dishonesty, shouting ... then, of course, one worries how much of this is how one's going to behave oneself."

The Most Rev Welby was named as Dr Rowan Williams' successor in November and is due to be enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury in a service at Canterbury Cathedral on Thursday.

The father-of-five resigned as an oil executive in 1987 after 11 years in the industry to train for the Anglican priesthood.