Friday, 15 May 2026
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Church in Wales Clerics Appointed as King's Honorary Chaplains — A First in History

Six senior clerics of the Church in Wales have been appointed as Honorary Chaplains to His Majesty The King — the first time in history that Church in Wales clergy have held this royal role.

Senior Church in Wales clerics in scarlet cassocks standing outside a Welsh cathedral

Analysis

In a historic first, six senior clerics of the Church in Wales have been appointed as Honorary Chaplains to His Majesty The King.

The Dean of the new Royal Chaplaincy for Wales is the Bishop of St Davids, the Rt Revd Dorrien Davies. The Chaplains will wear a distinctive scarlet cassock and a badge bearing the Royal cypher — a visible symbol of the special relationship between the Crown and the Church in Wales.

This is the first time clerics of the Church in Wales have been appointed as Honorary King's Chaplains, and the appointments are being welcomed as a recognition of the Church's distinctive role in Welsh life and of His Majesty's well-documented affection for Wales.

The Church in Wales — the Anglican province covering Wales — has been a disestablished church since 1920, meaning it does not have the same formal constitutional relationship with the Crown as the Church of England. These appointments are therefore a significant gesture of royal recognition, and a reminder that the Church in Wales's ministry to the Welsh nation is valued at the highest levels.

Find out more at churchinwales.org.uk.