King Charles III, head of the Church of England, and Queen Camilla will visit the Vatican in April to meet Pope Francis, Buckingham Palace has announced.
“Their Majesties, the King and Queen, will undertake state visits to the Holy See and the Republic of Italy in early April 2025,” the palace said in a statement on Thursday.
This will be King Charles’ first visit to the Vatican for discussions with the head of the Catholic Church since ascending the throne in 2022.
Having resumed public engagements following cancer treatment last year, the King has undertaken multiple state visits.
The royal couple will meet Pope Francis as part of the Jubilee Year celebrations, a Catholic tradition observed every 25 years as a time for reflection.
The Church of England was founded in the 16th century by Henry VIII after the Vatican refused to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
During their trip, Charles and Camilla will also visit Rome and Ravenna in northern Italy to commemorate “the strong bilateral relationship between Italy and the United Kingdom,” according to the palace.
The King previously visited the Vatican five times as Prince of Wales, most recently in 2019.
Ahead of his first state visit to Italy as monarch, Charles will attend a “UK-Italy dinner” at Highgrove Gardens in southwest England on Friday.
The event, celebrating “the slow food and slow fashion movement,” will be attended by the royal couple, the Italian ambassador to the UK, and American actor Stanley Tucci.
Tucci, who hosts a travel show exploring Italian culture and cuisine, recently portrayed a cardinal in the Oscar-nominated papal political thriller Conclave.
