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Notes -
The Church of England swayed this way and that, in the power struggles over the centuries. Henry at its inception was pretty much still Catholic, he was not a doctrinal innovator (to the chagrin and impatience of those of his court who were all-in with the Reformers) and it was only gradually that a lot of the liturgical changes happened. Edward his son, having been raised by his more Reformed relations, was more Protestant and stripped out much more. Mary who succeeded him tried to roll back changes but died too soon. Elizabeth who succeeded her was not concerned so much with internal belief as external, and most importantly, political acquiescence. And James who succeeded her had been raised by the Presbyterian Scottish nobles in a much more Bible-oriented, Reform version of Protestantism.
As Supreme Head/Governor of the Church, the monarch's personal beliefs of course held much sway when steering the direction it would go (see the 18th century satirical song The Vicar of Bray about how the titular vicar trims his views to suit the political currents in order to hold on to his benefice). But the clergy and the rising middle-class also had a lot of influence, and there were perpetual struggles between those deemed High Church (much too like the despised Roman Catholics), Low Church (more in tune with the other Protestant Reformation churches like the Presbyterians) and the Broad Church, who thought of themselves as traditional, middle of the road, and not concerned with finicky points of doctrine and liturgy, just a basic "God and the Ten Commandments and no need to go deeper than that".
So the Empire was built and at its peak governed by the 'simple basic Christianity' Protestants, and if you don't think that was their view of the matter, take a gander at this, The Secret of England's Greatness:
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