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King Charles and Queen Camilla are going abroad! Their Majesties will be undertaking state visits next month, including one to the Holy See, where the King and Queen are scheduled to join Pope Francis in celebrating the 2025 Jubilee.
Buckingham Palace announced on March 18 that Charles and Camilla will have an audience with the pope, and will also attend a service in the Sistine Chapel, focused on the theme of "care for creation," which reflects Pope Francis and the King's long-standing commitment to nature.
The pontiff has been in the hospital since last month. Pope Francis, 88, was admitted to Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Feb. 14 for a respiratory infection and bilateral pneumonia. In an update on March 17, the Holy See Press Office shared (via Vatican News) that the pope's "condition is stable with slight improvements thanks to respiratory and motor therapy."
During his state visit to the Holy See, His Majesty, who is Supreme Governor of the Church of England, will also visit the Papal Basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, and attend a reception with Seminarians from across the Commonwealth and the British Vatican community. Buckingham Palace noted that the visit "to the Holy See will be an historic visit in the year of the Papal Jubilee, and will mark a significant step forward in relations between the Catholic Church and Church of England with a special service in the Sistine Chapel, joining hands in a celebration of ecumenism, and of the work The King and The Pope have done over many years on climate and Nature."
Their Majesties are also paying a state visit to the Republic of Italy. Charles will become the first British monarch to address a joint session of the Italian Parliament. In Rome, the King and Queen will attend a state banquet, hosted by Italian President Sergio Mattarella, at the Palazzo Quirinale. The trip to Italy will also include a reception in the Town Hall in Ravenna to mark the 80th anniversary of the province’s liberation from Nazi occupation by Allied Forces, as well as the laying of a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider in Rome and other engagements. The King and Queen's state visit "will underscore the depth and breadth of the bilateral relationship" between the UK and Italy. Charles has officially visited the Republic of Italy 17 times since his first visit in 1984. The King and Queen's upcoming state visits begin on April 7.