King Charles and Queen Camilla announce first major tour of 2025

The King and Queen will travel to Italy and Vatican City for an official state visit this spring, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.

Charles and Camilla will undertake engagements in Rome and Ravenna in early April, with the trip likely to coincide with the couple’s 20^th wedding anniversary on 9 April.

The visit will celebrate the “strong bilateral relationship between Italy and the UK,” the palace says.

Their Majesties will also visit the Holy See to Pope Francis in marking the 2025 Jubilee Year. Traditionally held once every 25 years, the Jubilee is a  special year for the Catholic Church; a year of walking together as ‘Pilgrims of Hope’.  

Charles and Camilla visited Italy together in 2017 as the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, with the King last meeting with Pope Francis at Vatican City in 2019.

Ahead of their trip, the couple will be joined by the Italian Ambassador to the UK, His Excellency Inigo Lambertini, Mrs Maria Grazia Lambertini and Italian-American actor Stanley Tucci, for a dinner in celebration of Slow Food and Slow Fashion at Highgrove on Friday.

The Slow Food movement began in Rome in 1986 as a protest against the opening of a McDonald’s near the Spanish Steps in Rome. It works to promote the right to good, clean, and fair food for all, as part of the pursuit of prosperity and happiness as well as good for the people who grow it and good for the planet.

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Meanwhile, Slow Fashion encourages consumers to purchase fewer, higher-quality items that last longer.

Students and alumni from The King’s Foundation will attend a reception at the event to provide demonstrations on their work in sustainable fashion and traditional heritage skills, such as millinery, embroidery, furniture making and fashion design.

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The menu for the dinner has been created by world-renowned Chef, Francesco Mazzei and inspired by Italian-American actor Stanley Tucci, host of Tucci – The Heart of Italy.

The King and Queen’s overseas trip comes after their long-haul visit to Australia and Samoa last October.