Royal visit to Vatican set to go ahead despite concerns over health of Pope Francis.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla will make a state visit to Italy and the Vatican from 7-10 April, with engagements in Rome and Ravenna, Buckingham Palace confirmed on Monday.

The royal tour is set to include a tentative audience with Pope Francis, health permitting, followed by an ecumenical service on the theme of "care for creation" in the Sistine Chapel, on 8 April.

The 88-year-old pontiff, who has been battling double pneumonia for the past month in Rome's Gemelli Hospital, has shown signs of a continued recovery in recent days however there is still no timeline for his release.

The service in the Sistine Chapel will reflect the "long-standing commitment to nature" of both Pope Francis and King Charles, who is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

The visit will mark a “significant step forward in relations between the Catholic Church and Church of England,” Buckingham Palace said, as well as marking celebrations for the Vatican's 2025 Jubilee Year in Rome.

Although Charles has met with the pontiff on previous occasions as Prince of Wales in 2017 and 2019, this will be his first visit to the Vatican since becoming king two and a half years ago.

The royal tour will include a historic visit to the papal Basilica of Saint Paul's Outside the Walls where the Royal Chapel Choir and St George's Chapel Choir will perform.

On 9 April the king and queen will be received at Villa Doria Pamphilj by Italy's prime minister Giorgia Meloni and president Sergio Mattarella, who will host the royal visitors at a state banquet at the Quirinale Palace.

Military links between the two countries will be promoted with a joint flypast over Rome by Italy's Frecce Tricolori jets and the UK's Red Arrows, and a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Charles will become the first British monarch to address both houses of the Italian parliament, and he "will also speak in Italian", the British ambassador to Italy Edward Llewellyn told the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

Britain's foreign secretary David Lammy and his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani will chair talks on clean energy, which will also be attended by King Charles, while Queen Camilla will meet school children at an event to mark 80 years of the British Council.

The tour will end with a visit to the northern city of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region, where the royal couple will attend a ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the province's liberation from Nazi occupation by the Allies, on 10 April 1945 (80 years to the day of the royals' visit).

In Ravenna, the king will visit the tomb of the Italian writer Dante as well as the mosaics at the Basilica of San Vitale and the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, while the queen will tour a museum commemorating the English Romantic poet Lord Byron.

The royals will also celebrate Slow Food and the cuisine of Emilia-Romagna and will meet with local farmers whose crops were devastated by recent floods in the region.

The state visit is designed to underline the strong relationship between the UK and Italy, reflecting "shared values, history and culture", Buckingham Palace said.

The trip to Rome also has a personal dimension as it coincides with the king and queen's 20th wedding anniversary on 9 April.

Hailing it as "a truly historic occasion", Ambassador Llewellyn said: "This State Visit of Their Majesties confirms the excellent state of our bilateral relations at this time, underlining the closeness between two countries that share not only values but also governance aims", adding: "We share a passion for our community, for culture, art, the environment and our heritage".

Previous royal visits

In October 2019, as Prince of Wales, Charles travelled to Rome to attend the canonisation ceremony of Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman at the Vatican.

In April 2017 the then Prince Charles and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall paid an official visit to Italy during which they met then prime minister Paolo Gentiloni, president Sergio Mattarella, and Pope Francis.

The royal couple also visited Naples and Florence during that trip, with Charles travelling to Amatrice, the Lazio town devastated by an earthquake the previous year.

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