The Cross of Wales comes home
Ten months after the Coronation, the Cross of Wales that led the procession has arrived in Wales. Grahame Davies, former Private Secretary to the King, now Director of Strategy & Mission for the Church in Wales, describes its journey
When King Charles III was crowned on May 6th, Wales had a prominent part in the ceremony for the first time.
As the Coronation procession arrived at the chancel of Westminster Abbey, Sir Bryn Terfel was heard raising the roof with his performance of the Kyrie, written specially for the occasion by a Welsh composer, Paul Mealor, and was sung in Welsh ‘Arglwydd Trugarha. Crist Trugarha. Arglwydd Trugarha’.
A little later, Welsh was heard again as the Abbey Choir sang the Veni Creator Spiritus not only in the traditional English but also in Welsh, in Scottish Gaelic and in Irish – witness to the King’s support of the Celtic heritage. It was a presentation of the language to a worldwide audience of hundred of millions, validating our culture in a way not seen previously.
But that was not the only way that Wales was represented in this historic ceremony. The Coronation procession was led by a new processional cross created specially for the occasion, and known by the name ‘Croes Cymru’.
The idea for creating the cross came to me in 2019. Then, the aim was for the King to present it to the Church in Wales as a gift to mark the centenary of the Disestablishment of the Church. The task was undertaken with the willing help of the Goldsmiths Company, one of the famous guilds of the City of London, who paid for the work and oversaw the process of its creation.
Recycled silver from the Royal Mint at Llantrisant was used to create the Cross itself, and the shaft was made of Welsh oak fallen in a storm. On the back of the Cross, through the work of creator Michael Lloyd, are, in Welsh, the famous words of St David’s last prayer: “Be joyful, keep the Faith, do the little things”
At the beginning of 2022, a wonderful element was added to the project when Pope Francis gave a piece of the True Cross to be included in the Cross, as a personal gift to the King and a wonderful significant sign of ecumenical friendship.
When the late Queen died in September 2022, and as arrangements began for the Coronation, it was decided that the Cross would lead the main procession into the Abbey during the ceremony. And that is what happened. An idea which began as a way of showing respect to Wales, its Church and history, grew to be a sign of international reconciliation.
The Cross is now back in Wales, where it will be shared between the Church in Wales and the Catholic Church in Wales as a permanent sign of our common Christian heritage.