King Charles III: Cardiff to host first visit to Wales by new monarch

King Charles III will make his first visit to Wales as monarch on Friday.

The King and Queen Consort will attend a prayer and reflection service for the Queen at Llandaff Cathedral, with events at the Senedd and Cardiff Castle.

A number of road closures have been put in place.

Cardiff Council said the visit would include the royal couple greeting members of the public in the castle grounds.

It has warned people to expect long queues at the castle with entry on a first-come-first-served basis.

More than 2,000 were inside its grounds at the weekend for the King's proclamation ceremony, while hundreds more lined the streets outside the castle walls.

Attendance at Llandaff Cathedral is by invite only and Archbishop of Wales, Andrew John, will give the address at the prayer and reflection service.

Acting Dean of Llandaff, Michael Komor, will lead the service and the Bishop of Llandaff, June Osborne, will lead the prayers.

Representatives of other churches and faith communities in Wales will also read prayers and First Minister Mark Drakeford will read a lesson.

An anthem, A Welsh Prayer, composed by Paul Mealor with words by Dr Grahame Davies, will be performed by a choir accompanied by harpists, Alis Huws and Catrin Finch.

The royal couple will also receive a motion of condolence from Mr Drakeford during an engagement at the Senedd.

At the castle they will meet representatives from royal patronages and members of faith communities.

The council has issued a guide to the road closures with some already in place to allow for preparations for Friday's events, with more to come on Thursday and Friday.

A contingency plan has been put in place to close a wider area of the city centre to traffic if large crowds attend.

The authority said a "significant" number of stewards had been drafted in alongside police officers as part of the plans involving the Welsh government and South Wales Police.

It also advised people to use public transport rather than try to drive and park in the city centre.

Transport for Wales said it expected train services to be very busy and urged people to allow more time to travel and to check for live service updates.

Meanwhile, South Wales Police said temporary airspace restrictions would be in place and apply to all aircraft, including drones, between 06:00 and 20:00.