Willie Booth was the Sub-Dean of the Chapels Royal, the Sub-Almoner of the Royal Almonry, Deputy Clerk of the Closet of the Ecclesiastical Household, and Domestic Chaplain at Buckingham Palace from 1991 until his retirement in 2007.
William James Booth was born in Ballymena, Co Antrim, Northern Ireland, in 1939. He was educated at Ballymena Academy and Trinity College Dublin. He was made deacon of the Church of Ireland in 1962, and ordained priest in 1963. Booth’s first appointment was as curate of St Luke’s Parish, Belfast, where he served in 1962-64.
In 1965 he arrived at Cranleigh School, Surrey, to take up the post of chaplain. For someone who had led a relatively sheltered life, it was a pretty severe shock to be pitched into the adolescent world of the Swinging Sixties. He had rooms right at the centre of the school and immersed himself in school life. It is testimony to the regard and affection that he engendered in the pupils that many kept in touch with him throughout his life. He married them, baptised their children and officiated at the funerals of some young people who had died before their time.
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In 1973 when Westminster School was in need of a new chaplain, he was poached by John Rae, then the Head Master, much to the annoyance of Cranleigh. Booth arrived at Westminster in September 1974. He was an instant success. His great strength as a chaplain was that he could get on the same wavelength as the young. If any pupil, or indeed colleague, was in difficulties nothing was too much trouble for him. Booth wore his faith lightly and yet many held him up as an example of a man whose life embodied all the Christian virtues. He was the first to say that he was not an academic and that was a relief to his adolescent audience. In his sermons he gave it to them straight — with the odd joke thrown in — and such talks were much more to their taste than some of the fustier offerings from others. The added element of a Northern Ireland twang when he was in full flow gave an extra piquancy.
He made a point of being available to everybody. He did not foist himself on anyone but got to know pupils by being around and chatting so that they were relaxed in his company. They knew where to go if they were in trouble. He was famous for his late-night ghost stories which pinstriped stockbrokers would remind him of when they met him again many years later.
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As sometimes happens there are tragedies among the young. Far too often, even with all the help available from teachers and counsellors, a young man or woman may come to feel that it is better to end their life. Booth managed these horrors with great sensitivity and often remained in touch with parents long after the event.
When Booth was at Cranleigh he had organised a PHAB (physically handicapped and able-bodied) course. This he took with him to Westminster. Every year at the beginning of the summer holidays about thirty sixth-form Westminster pupils would stay behind for a week. They would welcome 30 handicapped pupils as their guests for a residential course. They would work together in groups to produce art, dance and musical events, culminating in a show at the end of the week. It was an emotional rollercoaster for guests and hosts. Many Westminster pupils said that this week was the most formative of their school days. Booth was the inspiration and entrepreneur behind Westminster PHAB. He had the ability to make everyone feel worthwhile. PHAB still flourishes at the school.
Booth was made Priest in Ordinary to the Queen in 1976 — an honorary title which meant that he often officiated at the Chapel Royal. In 1990 Booth was invited to lunch at the Palace. He found himself sitting next to the Queen and unbeknown to him this was an interview. It obviously went well. In 1991 he left Westminster and moved to the Chapel Royal as Sub-Dean. This involved looking after the Chapels Royal as well as being Domestic Chaplain at Buckingham Palace. As one would expect, Booth regarded the job of chaplain as caring for everybody from the coachman to the Royal Family. Each individual mattered and was given equal time and care. Booth was constant in friendship and people in real distress came to him. Perhaps it was his Ulster background which made him refreshingly unfussy and unpompous about the liturgy. There was a freshness and lack of cynicism about Booth which endeared him to many. He was amazed that someone like him, who regarded himself as a simple fellow from Ballymena, was involved in the great ceremonies of state. He could never quite get over the fact that one day at Sandringham he found himself sitting on a sofa with the Queen on one side of him and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother on the other.
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Both Chapels Royal have been used in recent years for the lying-in-state of members of the Royal Family. The coffins of the Queen Mother and of Princess Margaret lay at the Queen’s Chapel, while that of Diana, Princess of Wales, lay in the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace. This meant that Booth was intimately involved with the family at those very difficult times.
He was appointed LVO in 1999 and CVO in 2007 after 16 years’ service to the household.
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After his retirement he went to live in King’s Lynn, Norfolk. He maintained his base in London by becoming chaplain to the East India Club. Recently, covering a sabbatical, he had been the acting chaplain at New College, Oxford. He brought the same care and attention to the job as he always did, even though it was for no more than six months.
Booth will be remembered with affection and gratitude by so many of the hundreds of people he came into contact with.
He did not marry. He is survived by a brother and a sister.
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The Rev Prebendary Willie Booth, CVO, Sub-Dean of the Chapels Royal, was born on February 3, 1939. He died of heart failure on June 2, 2009, aged 70