Manon Bonner Antoniazzi (''née'' Jenkins, previously Williams; born 15 April 1965) is a Welsh senior civil servant. Since April 2017 she has occupied the position of Chief Executive and Clerk of the Senedd. Previously she held the position of Chief Executive Officer of

Visit Wales Visit Wales () is the Welsh Government's tourism organisation. Its aim is to promote Welsh tourism and assist the tourism industry. History The Wales Tourist Board was established in 1969 as a result of the Development of Tourism Act 1969 a ...

within the

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( ) is the Executive (government), executive arm of the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of Cabinet secretary, cabinet secretaries and Minister of State, ministers. It is led by the F ...

Early life and education

Antoniazzi was born Manon Bonner Jenkins on 15 April 1965.

Companies House Companies House is the executive agency of the British Government that maintains the Company register, register of companies, employs the company registrars and is responsible for Incorporation (business), incorporating all forms of Company, co ...

form AP01 (Appointment of director) for Dr Manon Bonner Williams, date of birth 15-04-1965. The form is accessible at the entry for 17 April 2012 in She was born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

and is the eldest daughter of Emyr and Myra Jenkins. Her father was a television presenter, director of the

Eisteddfod In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, a ...

, and the chief executive of the Arts Council of Wales. Her mother, Myra Jenkins was a Welsh tutor and

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

. She has a younger sister, Ffion Hague, who is a Welsh broadcaster, author, and former civil servant. Both she and her sister were musically talented. Antoniazzi was a pupil at Ysgol Llanhari, a Welsh-medium school for ages 3 to 18 in the village of Llanharry,

Rhondda Cynon Taf Rhondda Cynon Taf (; RCT; also spelt as Rhondda Cynon Taff) is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South East Wales, south-east of Wales. It consists of five valleys: the Rhondda Fawr, Rhondda Fach, Cynon, Taff () and Ely valleys, ...

, Wales. She attended

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

, from 1983 to 1989. In 1990 she was awarded a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in Medieval Welsh Literature from the University of Cambridge; her thesis was entitled ''Aspects of the Welsh prophetic verse tradition in the Middle Ages: incorporating textual studies of poetry from Llyfr Coch Hergest and Y Cwta Cyfarwydd''. A copy is held by the

National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales (, ) in Aberystwyth is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million books and periodicals, and the l ...

Career

She started as a Press Officer at Welsh Water plc, and became Head of Press and Public Relations at

S4C S4C (, ''Sianel Pedwar Cymru'', meaning ''Channel Four Wales'') is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speakin ...

in 1991. Antoniazzi was a member of the royal household of the Prince of Wales, where she served as a senior Private Secretary for Wales. She first took up her post in 1994, departing in 1998, but returned to the household in 2004 until 2012. During her time in that role, she helped

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, a ...

, become more involved in Welsh life by purchasing

Llwynywermod Llwynywermod (; ), also known as Llwynywormwood, is an estate owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, just outside the Brecon Beacons, Brecon Beacons National Park in Carmarthenshire, Wales. The estate is near the village of Myddfai, Llandovery, Carmar ...

, his first property in Wales. She also gave

Prince William William, Prince of Wales (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982), is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales. William was born during the reign of his p ...

Welsh lessons. In 1998 she was appointed Director of Communication Services at the

National Assembly for Wales The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its role is to scrutinise the Welsh Government and legislate on devolve ...

. She joined the

BBC Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, ...

in 2000 as Secretary and Head of Public Affairs, late becoming Director of Nations and Regions. She was also the chairman of The Prince's Trust, Cymru from 2001 to 2004. In January 2012 she joined the Board of the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

as Deputy Chair and Chair of the Committee for Wales. She became the Chief Executive Officer of

within the

in 2012. Antoniazzi was appointed Chief Executive and Clerk to the National Assembly for Wales, assuming this position in April 2017 with a salary of £125,170. She has been on the advisory council of the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...

and a director from 22 May 2012 until 11 August 2016. She has been governor of the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

and a member of the advisory boards of the

Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI Classics, EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Rich ...

and

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) () is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales. WNO gave its first performances in 1946. The company began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its early days, the ...

. Since August 2018 Antoniazzi has been on the board of directors of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, and is the Deputy Chair. She was appointed a trustee of the Strata Florida Trust in November 2021.

Honours

In the 1998 Queen's Birthday Honours, Antoniazzi was appointed a

Member of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

(MVO). In the 2012 Birthday Honours, she was promoted to a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO).

Personal life

Her first marriage was to the international Welsh

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

singer Jeremy Huw Williams on 18 September 1991 at St John's College Chapel, Cambridge. The couple had one daughter, Indeg Elen Williams. The marriage ended in divorce. On

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

weekend 2014 she was married for a second time, to John Antoniazzi. They were married in

Lake Como Lake Como ( , ) also known as Lario, is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of , making it the third-largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore. At over deep, it is one of the deepest lakes in Europe. ...

, Italy, and held a wedding party at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff. They currently reside in

References

External links

Antoniazzi's profile on the Senedd website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Antoniazzi, Manon 1965 births Living people Welsh women civil servants Civil servants in the Welsh Government Legislative clerks People educated at Ysgol Gyfun Llanhari Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge People from Cardiff Lieutenants of the Royal Victorian Order