King Charles and Queen Camilla arrive at Vatican ahead of historic meeting with Pope Leo
While the King and Queen began their two-day official visit, Pope Benedict XIV. He came to the Vatican for the first time since Leo III’s election to office.
The Vatican’s famous Swiss Guard, who have guarded the head of the Catholic Church for centuries, were seen waiting outside the Pope’s official residence on Thursday morning before the royal couple arrived in the San Damaso Courtyard.
Arriving in Rome on Wednesday evening, Charles and Camilla will be welcomed by Pope Leo at the Apostolic Palace, his official residence, before a historic day full of events.
The state visit to the Vatican, the government of the Roman Catholic Church in Vatican City, is understood to be extremely important to the King personally and will mark the Papal Jubilee held every 25 years.
The King, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, will become the first British monarch to pray in public service alongside the Pope, head of the Catholic Church since the Reformation, during the ecumenical ceremony to be held in the famous Sistine Chapel.
The King and Queen will then attend the ceremony at St Paul’s Basilica Outside the Walls. A special seat has been created here for Charles, which will remain in the chapel for use by his successors.
Charles will also be recognized for his historic association with the basilica, the center of the British monarchy’s Benedictine Monastery, and will be referred to as the abbey’s “Royal Brother”, as will the monarchs who maintained the tomb of St Paul in the basilica centuries ago.
The state visit will culminate with the King attending a reception at the Pontifical Beda College, a seminary that trains priests from across the Commonwealth, and the Queen will meet six Catholic sisters from the International Order of Superiors General.
The King and Queen were planned to pay an official visit to the Vatican in April, but the trip was postponed due to Pope Francis’ health problems. The couple met privately with the pontiff, who died later that month after Pope Leo was elected to office in May.
The king also met with Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II, two of Pope Leo’s predecessors.
