William Booth (priest)

William James Booth CVO (3 February 1939 – 2 June 2009), was an Anglican priest and prebendary of St Paul's Cathedral, London, who served as royal domestic chaplain to Elizabeth II.

[1] A descendant of Revd Canon Humphrey Booth (1629–1691), of Dublin (see Gore-Booth),[2] he was born in 1939 and educated at Ballymena Academy, County Antrim, before going to Trinity College, Dublin, where he graduated Bachelor of Arts (BA; 1960) proceeding Master of Arts (MA; 1975).

His first appointment was as curate at St Luke's Parish Church, Belfast, from 1962 to 1964.

[3] Appointed Deputy Clerk of the Closet in 1991, Booth served ex-officio as Sub-Dean of the Chapel Royal, Sub-Almoner and, as Domestic Chaplain to Queen Elizabeth II, the sole full-time member of the British Royal Ecclesiastical Household.

[4] Previously a Priest-Vicar of Westminster Abbey (1987–1993) and Priest-in-Ordinary to HM The Queen (1976–1993),[5] he was installed as a Prebendary of St Paul's Cathedral in 2000.