King Charles III and Queen Camilla have landed in Rome ahead of their official state visit to the Vatican.
During their visit, the king and queen will meet Pope Leo XIV. King Charles is also scheduled to pray with the Pope, making him the first British monarch to engage in a public act of worship with the Pope since the Church of England broke away from the Catholic Church in the 16th century during the reign of Henry VIII.
Upon their arrival at Ciampino Airport in Rome, Italy, King Charles and Queen Camilla were welcomed by Christopher Trott, the British Ambassador to the Holy See, and Colonel Matteo Zuliani of the Italian Air Task Force.
According to a social media post on the royal family's official Instagram, King Charles and Queen Camilla's visit includes a visit to the Papal Basilica and a reception at the Pontifical Beda College, a seminary that trains priests from across the Commonwealth.
Queen Camilla will also meet Catholic Sisters from The International Union of Superiors General.
The king and queen's visit coincides with the year of the Papal Jubilee, which is a time of pilgrimage, reconciliation and renewal in the Catholic Church. A jubilee in the Catholic Church occurs every 25 years.
Prior to his death in April, Pope Francis declared in an official bull that the jubilee's central message is hope.
"My thoughts turn to all those pilgrims of hope who will travel to Rome in order to experience the Holy Year and to all those others who, though unable to visit the City of the Apostles Peter and Paul, will celebrate it in their local Churches," he said.
King Charles and Queen Camilla originally had plans to make a state visit earlier this year, according to the official website of the British royal family. However, plans shifted due to Pope Francis' declining health, and instead had a private meeting with the late pope.
The press announcement said that the king and queen's visit "will mark a significant step forward in relations between the Catholic Church and Church of England."
"The visit to Italy will underscore the depth and breadth of the bilateral relationship: our defence relationship, including in the current international context; our shared values, history and culture; our work together on the clean energy transition; and the links between our peoples and communities," according to the announcement.
King Charles previously visited the Holy See a few times prior to his visit this week. He attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005 and also the canonisation of Cardinal John Henry Newman. As the Prince of Wales, Charles also visited the Vatican in 2009 and in 2017.
