King Charles III and Queen Camilla visited Cardiff on October 15, 2026, to formally open the seventh term of the Welsh Parliament.
It marked Charles's first ceremonial opening as monarch.
The event took place amid calls for elected lawmakers to boycott the royal address and controversy over the exclusion of a poem written for the ceremony by Wales' national poet.
The ceremony followed May's Senedd election, which brought Plaid Cymru to power for the first time, ending Labour's continuous leadership of the Welsh government since devolution in 1999.
The parliament has also expanded from 60 to 96 members, making this the first ceremonial opening since the enlargement.
According to ITV, Charles was expected to address the Senedd's debating chamber alongside First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth and presiding officer Huw Irranca-Davies.
A Royal Navy Guard of Honour welcomed the royal couple, while a mace-bearer led lawmakers into the chamber.
The program included musical performances by the King's Harpist, Mared Pugh Evans, and the Merched Plastaf Choir.
The visit also included a meeting with 10-year-old Noah Jones, whose great-grandfather, Stephen Andrew, was a caretaker at Pantglas Junior School and helped save children during the Aberfan disaster.
The meeting commemorated the 60th anniversary of the tragedy.
In remarks ahead of the ceremony, Irranca-Davies described the expanded legislature as an important development for Welsh democracy.
"This ceremony marks the start of a new chapter in the Senedd’s history."
He said the enlarged parliament had been elected under a new electoral system intended to reflect a broader range of Welsh experiences and views.
He added that the event would recognize Welsh communities and the expectations voters had placed on their representatives.
"We are honoured that Their Majesties The King and Queen are here to share this moment with us."
Irranca-Davies said the ceremony would celebrate the country's people and culture while reminding lawmakers of their responsibilities during the seventh Senedd term.
"We will use this moment to celebrate the people, communities and culture of Wales and remind ourselves of the aspirations of those who put their trust in us to serve them in this seventh Senedd term."
Separately, anti-monarchy campaigners from Real Democracy Now organized a protest outside the parliament from 11 a. m.
on October 15.
They urged Senedd members to challenge the invitation to Charles by refusing to attend his address and joining demonstrators calling for a republic.
Adam Johannes, a member of the campaign group, criticized the presence of an unelected monarch at the opening of an elected legislature.
"An unelected king opening an elected Senedd. What an insult.
You couldn’t make it up, could you?" he said.
Johannes argued that hereditary status was incompatible with democratic accountability and questioned why an elected parliament needed a monarch to formally open its proceedings.
"We go out, vote and elect our representatives, but before they can get on with the job, we’re expected to roll out the red carpet for a man whose only qualification is having the right parents and being filthy rich.
What on earth is democratic about that?"
He also challenged the symbolic role of the monarchy in Welsh public life.
"If the Senedd is genuinely the people’s parliament, why does it need an unelected monarch to open it?
We should be citizens, not subjects. Our democracy doesn’t need a royal seal of approval."
Campaigner Ann Davies said she would attend the demonstration during her lunch break, linking her opposition to the monarchy with concerns about poverty, low wages and household expenses.
"When Wales suffers some of the highest levels of poverty and low pay in the UK, what an insult it is to working class people to see an unelected billionaire king, with his castles and vast estates, elevated above the rest of us while we struggle to pay the bills, keep a roof over our heads and put food on the table," she said.
The protest added to debate over the monarchy's role in Wales.
Ap Iorwerth, whose Plaid Cymru party has a pro-independence tradition, previously expressed opposition to hereditary royalty while acknowledging that the institution remained important to many Welsh people.
He participated in the ceremony and was expected to speak after the King.
Another controversy concerned Hanan Issa, the National Poet of Wales, whose planned contribution was removed from the program after Senedd officials rejected her poem, To Grow.
Issa said the original addressed Gaza and transgender health care, while a second version using more abstract language was also rejected on the grounds that the ceremony should remain apolitical.
Issa told BBC Wales that the decision had left her disappointed because the Senedd was a place for political debate.
"I'm disappointed more than anything.
This is the chamber where political discussion is had, and this very much says that political discussion framed as a poem is not welcome."
The Senedd Commission defended the decision, saying the poem had undergone a development process before officials concluded it was unsuitable for the occasion.
"After a development process, we concluded that the poem was not the right fit for this occasion."
The commission also emphasized its respect for the poet's independence.
"We respect the National Poet of Wales' artistic independence and continue to admire and value their work."
The opening followed a tradition established by Queen Elizabeth II, who attended the opening of the first National Assembly for Wales in 1999 and subsequent post-election ceremonies during her reign.
The Senedd building opened in 2006, and the latest ceremony marked a new stage in the institution's development following its expansion.
