The King and Queen will attend the ceremonial opening of the Senedd in Cardiff Bay on Thursday, the first royal opening of the Welsh parliament since His Majesty's accession to the throne.
The royal couple will be received on 15 October by guard formations from the 3rd Battalion, The Royal Welsh, and 157 (Welsh) Regiment Royal Logistics Corps, alongside a Royal Navy Guard of Honour that will render a royal salute on arrival in Cardiff Bay.
A day of ceremony and community
The programme will feature cultural performances before the formal ceremony, after which the King and Queen will meet members of the Welsh Youth Parliament, Senedd commissioners, elected Members and representatives of community and youth organisations from across Wales.
The King's speech is expected to reference the importance of parliamentary democracy, the role of the Senedd in representing Welsh voices, and the shared future of the United Kingdom. It will be his first address to the Welsh parliament as sovereign, continuing a pattern of early engagement with the devolved institutions that included opening the seventh session of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood in June.
The Cardiff Ceremony at a Glance
- The King and Queen open the Senedd in Cardiff Bay on Thursday 15 October.
- A Royal Navy Guard of Honour will render a royal salute, joined by guards from the Royal Welsh and 157 (Welsh) Regiment Royal Logistics Corps.
- The King's speech is expected to stress parliamentary democracy and the shared future of the United Kingdom.
- The couple will meet the Welsh Youth Parliament, commissioners, Members and community groups.
- It is the first Senedd opening of the reign; the 2021 ceremony was led by Queen Elizabeth II.
Five years on
The previous royal opening, in October 2021, was performed by Queen Elizabeth II, who was accompanied that day by the then Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall. Thursday's ceremony therefore brings the King full circle: he returns to the Senedd as sovereign, with Queen Camilla beside him, at the head of the same ritual of mace, music and parliamentary theatre.
The visit carries a quiet constitutional weight. It comes five months after Plaid Cymru formed the Welsh government under the First Minister, ap Iorwerth, and the palace is understood to see the engagement as an opportunity to underline the Crown's neutrality and its affection for Wales at a moment of political change in Cardiff.
A busy royal autumn
The Cardiff ceremony opens a demanding fortnight for the royal household. Later this month the King and Queen begin an autumn tour taking in the Bahamas, Guyana and Antigua and Barbuda, where His Majesty will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and, Buckingham Palace has said, will not shy away from acknowledging the darkest days of colonial rule and slavery. Last week the King joined Tim Cook and Sir Elton John at Battersea Power Station to launch the Apple x King's Trust Creative Labs, a music and technology programme for young people in the Trust's fiftieth anniversary year.
After the Cardiff programme concludes, the royal couple will return to London in the evening. For the Senedd, Thursday offers a page in the history books: the first opening of a new parliamentary session under a new reign, in a chamber that has seen more than its share of change this year.