ROME (Reuters) – King Charles and his wife Queen Camilla arrived in Italy on Monday for a four-day state visit during which the British monarch will address the Italian parliament in Rome.
It is the 17th official visit by Charles to Italy and his first overseas trip this year as he continues to undergo treatment for cancer.
It coincides with the 20th wedding anniversary of Charles and Camilla, who married on April 9, 2005. Their wedding took place the day after the funeral of Pope John Paul II, which Charles attended as then heir to the throne.
Charles, who as British king is the supreme governor of the Church of England, had also been due to meet Pope Francis this week, but the meeting was postponed in late March because of concern over the pontiff’s health.
Pope Francis spent five weeks in hospital suffering from double pneumonia and has now returned to the Vatican.
Charles previously met Francis, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, during visits to Italy in 2017 and 2019. In the past, he also met Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.
His mother, Queen Elizabeth, also visited the Holy See in 2000 during the last Catholic Jubilee year.
Charles and Camilla are scheduled to meet Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Tuesday and visit the Colosseum.
On Wednesday the king and queen will meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, after which Charles will deliver a speech to parliament — the first British monarch in history to address a joint parliamentary session in Italy.
On Thursday, Charles and Camilla travel to Ravenna in the northeastern Emilia-Romagna region to take part in a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the city’s liberation from Nazi occupation by Allied forces in World War Two.
(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Keith Weir)
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