Who was Queen Elizabeth's spiritual mentor – and why has he quit now?

Elizabeth II’s favourite priest and spiritual mentor is finally stepping down – after a touching agreement he’d stay by the late Queen’s side ‘to see her out’…

• The Queen asked Bishop David not to retire – and he agreed
• He helped marry Charles and Harry and conducted Queen Elizabeth’s funeral
• For all the latest Royal news, pictures and video click here 

This week’s Garter Day was the first presided over by King Charles III. But it marked another historic moment – the retirement of the late Queen’s favourite cleric.

Bishop David Conner, the Queen’s spiritual guide, most trusted priest and the man who conducted her funeral, is finally bowing out after 25 years of service.

Now 76, he should have left at 70,  the usual Church of England retirement age. But it is understood that the Queen personally asked him to stay ‘to see her out’.  

The role is vital for the spiritual well-being of the monarch and is thought Her Late Majesty did not want a change so late in life.

His successor, the Right Reverend Christopher Cocksworth, Bishop of Coventry, has just been announced. 

The Dean of Windsor, seen her with Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II following a thanksgiving service for the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret in 2012. The Dean was personally appointed by the Queen and became her spiritual mentor 

The Dean of Westminster places the Imperial State Crown and orb and sceptre on the altar during the Committal service for Queen Elizabeth in September 2022. It is understood he had continued working well into his 70s ‘to see her out’ at her request

Senior members of the Royal Family attend the Garter Service at Windsor – the last one to be conducted by the Dean 

While many people assume that it is the Archbishop of Canterbury who who comes closest to being the monarch’s mentor – and the current archbishop, Justin Welby, did help spiritually prepare the King for his coronation – it is usually the Dean of Windsor who plays that role. 

Also known as Register of the Order of the Garter, Bishop David was one of the longest serving Deans of Windsor, a position which is always filled by a cleric personally chosen by the monarch. 

And with Elizabeth II and Prince Philip spending their final years at Windsor, thanks to the Covid lockdown, the Dean became ever more important to them. 

Their trust in him was evident when Queen Elizabeth asked Bishop Conner to preach at Prince Philip’s memorial service in Westminster Abbey. 

He was also seen helping officiate at the then Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles’s church blessing in 2005 and at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018. 

Bishop David was asked to conduct the funeral of the late Prince Philip in 2021

Queen Elizabeth shakes the Dean’s hand after the Easter Matins Service at Windsor, 2018

But the Dean’s most important role came last year when he officiated at the committal and burial of Queen Elizabeth II on September 19 in St George’s Chapel. 

That the Queen had finally laid down the burden of her office was poignantly symbolised when the Dean removed her crown, orb and sceptre from her coffin and placed them on the high altar of St George’s. 

Now the Dean too is laying down his own burden, completing more than 20 years of eventful service to the Sovereign.

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