Pope Leo XIV Becomes Papal Confrater of St George's, Windsor
Pope Leo XIV has been made Papal Confrater of the College of St George at St George's Chapel, Windsor, with the approval of King Charles. Buckingham Palace announced the honorary title on Friday 23 October 2026. A confrater is an honorary member of a religious community, and the College of St George is the body of clergy and canons attached to the chapel.
The Palace's announcement is headed "Pope Leo XIV accepts honorary title at St George's Chapel, Windsor", and published on royal.uk. It describes the title as a sign of spiritual fellowship. The Palace says it reflects a shared desire for Christian unity between King Charles and the Pope.
The exchange runs both ways. King Charles was welcomed as Royal Confrater of the Papal Basilica and Abbey of St Paul's Outside the Walls in Rome during a state visit to the Vatican, according to Hello Magazine. Hello reports that this is the first time such confrater titles have been exchanged between the two churches in around 500 years.
Two chairs were made for the occasion. The King's chair sits beside the monastic stalls, the carved seats used by monks, at St Paul's Outside the Walls. A matching chair for the Pope will be unveiled at St George's Chapel in Windsor. The chapel itself was built between 1475 and 1528.
The two men have met before. Hello reports that King Charles and Pope Leo prayed together in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican in 2025. It describes this as the first time a British monarch had prayed at a public service with a pope since the Reformation, the 16th-century break between England and Rome.
Pope Leo XIV is the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church, according to the Vatican's own website. The Vatican press office has also listed him alongside King Charles III and Queen Camilla in its bulletins.
The honour is a title, not a role. It carries no duties in the Palace's public statement, and it is a sign of the goodwill between the two churches. For Windsor, the chair is the most visible part of the arrangement, and it will be the first thing visitors see when the Pope's seat is unveiled.
