Minutes after images of the live inauguration of Justin Welby as 105th Archbishop of Canterbury were beamed around the world from St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, Twitter was a-buzz with rumours that the choir had lip-synched the anthem.

As part of the Confirmation of Election service, the choir sang the motet “The Star-mangled Spanner”, a setting of an early 20th-century metaphysical poem which incorporates themes of creation, love, astrophysics and oil exploration. The Director of Music later admitted that the choir’s successful commercial recording of the piece had been used in the service, explaining that “most of the boys were up till four this morning watching the Superbowl and, for some reason, came up with the idea that, since they were all too tired to sing in any case, ‘we might as well just press play and flap our lips’ as they put it.”