The King and Queen’s State Visits to the Holy See and Italy are set to take place as planned, “subject to Pope Francis’ health”, according to a Buckingham Palace spokesman.
The King is understood to have written privately to the Pontiff after he fell ill in February. He has spent the past month in hospital recovering from pneumonia and was pictured in the hospital’s chapel on Sunday.
A Palace source confirmed that officials had shared “hopes and prayers that Pope Francis’s health will enable the visit to go ahead.”
Charles and Camilla, who will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary in Italy on April 9, will visit the Vatican, Rome and Ravenna during the four-day visit from April 7-10.
© Getty ImagesA palace spokesman said: “On Tuesday 8th and clearly subject to Pope Francis’ health, their Majesties will visit the Holy See to join Pope Francis in celebrating the 2025 Jubilee, held traditionally once every 25 years.
“The Jubilee is a special year for the Catholic Church, a year of reconciliation, prayer and walking together as pilgrims of hope, which is the Jubilee’s theme.
“The King and Queen will have an audience with Pope Francis and their Majesties will also attend a service in the Sistine Chapel focused on the theme of care for creation, reflecting Pope Francis’s and His Majesty’s longstanding commitment to Nature.”
© Getty ImagesThe visits will see a number of historic firsts. As Supreme Governor of the Church of England, Charles will make history by becoming the first Sovereign to visit the Papal Basilica of “St Paul’s Outside the Walls” since the Reformation.
Members of the choirs of His Majesty’s Chapel Royal and St George’s Chapel, Windsor, will perform there and in the Sistine Chapel in a celebration of unity between the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches.
© Getty ImagesThe King will also become the first British monarch to address a joint session of the Italian Parliament and may choose to make at least part of his speech in Italian.
He will have audiences with Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarellla, who will also host a glittering State Banquet in his honour at the Quirinale in Rome.
© Getty ImagesAmong other highlights will be a joint flypast of the Red Arrows and their Italian counterparts, Frecce Tricolori, and a visit to a Slow Food festival celebrating traditional Emilia-Romagna cuisine.
In Ravenna, the King and Queen will visit Dante’s tomb and Her Majesty will visit the Byron museum. Both will attend a reception to mark the 80th anniversary since the province’s liberation from Nazi occupation by Allied Forces.
© Getty ImagesThis will be the King’s sixth visit to the Holy See since 1985, while the Queen is visiting for the third time.
Charles has officially visited Italy 17 times since 1984 and Camilla has joined him for two of these visits, in 2009 and 2017.
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