A Royal Audience with Pope Francis: King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s Wedding Anniversary
It was a momentous day for Britain’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla as they celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary and commemorated the four-year anniversary of the passing of the King’s father, Philip of Edinburgh. To mark this special occasion, the royal couple had a private audience with Pope Francis at the Casa Santa Marta on Wednesday afternoon.
The meeting took place at the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta, where Pope Francis has been recuperating for over two weeks after his release from Gemelli Hospital. In a statement released by the Holy See Press Office, it was revealed that Pope Francis expressed his best wishes to Their Majesties on their wedding anniversary and reciprocated King Charles’s wishes for a swift recovery from his health challenges.
King Charles III had been hospitalized at the end of March due to side effects from cancer treatment, which he had been undergoing since being diagnosed a year ago. Despite an initial announcement from Buckingham Palace about an official meeting with the Pope during the Royals’ visit to Italy, it was later postponed due to the Pope’s convalescence.
During their three-day visit to Rome, King Charles III and Queen Camilla also met with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The King even made history by becoming the first British Monarch to address the assembled Houses of Parliament in Montecitorio.
King Charles III, in addition to being the Sovereign of the United Kingdom and other commonwealth realms, is also the Supreme Governor of the Church of England. His interest in Catholic matters was evident in 2019 when he attended the canonization of Cardinal John Henry Newman and published an article in L’Osservatore Romano praising the event as a celebration of shared values.
The audience with Pope Francis was a fitting conclusion to the British monarchs’ visit to Italy, allowing them to personally convey their well wishes and strengthen the ties between the United Kingdom and the Holy See.
