In pictures: His Majesty The King’s visit to Oriel College

14 July 2026

His Majesty The King visited Oriel College on Friday 10 July after a trip to the University of Oxford’s new Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities

The short visit was His Majesty’s first to Oriel and continues an historic relationship between the College and the Crown.

The King greets members of the Oriel Community in First Quad. Picture by Roger Close/Oxford Clarion

Oriel was founded by King Edward II in 1326 and the reigning monarch serves as the College’s Visitor.

While the role of Visitor today is largely ceremonial in practice, the British sovereign has formal legal authority to intervene in certain constitutional matters.

The King was welcomed to Oriel by Oxfordshire’s Lord-Lieutenant, the Provost, Lord Mendoza, and Lady Mendoza before proceeding through First Quad to Chapel.

The King walking through First Quad accompanied by Lady Mendoza and Lord Mendoza. Picture by Richard Wakefield

Mendoza described The King’s visit as a “deeply meaningful occasion for our close-knit college community” during Oriel College’s 700th anniversary year. 

In the Chapel, His Majesty met the Chaplain, The Revd Dr Rob Wainwright, Fellow in Theology Professor William Wood and Theology students. Wood showed His Majesty the small, humble oratory which Saint John Henry Newman used for private prayer when he was a Fellow and chaplain at the College.

The King in Chapel with The Revd Dr Rob Wainwright and students. Picture by Richard Wakefield

The King and Fellow in Theology Professor William Wood. Picture by Richard Wakefield

Next His Majesty viewed Oriel’s Hall. In the Hall, built during the reign of Charles I, the Provost presented His Majesty with gifts.

The gifts included a special bottle of Tanqueray gin to mark Oriel’s 700th and a unique bottle of Glennies – the cocktail of choice for Oriel students – made with honey from the Oxford Beekeeping Society’s apiary at the College’s Bartlemas Sport Ground.

The gifts presented to The King in Hall. Picture by Roger Close/Oxford Clarion

The King alongside Lord Mendoza on the portico steps with ‘Regnante Carolo’ above them. Picture by Roger Close/Oxford Clarion

Lord Mendoza, stood beside The King and Lady Mendoza on the First Quad portico steps, then made a brief speech to an audience of nearly 300 members of the College gathered in First Quad to welcome His Majesty. 

During this speech, the Provost noted that the inscription above the portico, Regnante Carolo (“Charles, being King”), is correct again for the first time since 1685. 

In First Quad The King met with several small groups that had been formed to greet His Majesty, along with numerous other individuals who lined the central path through First Quad.