King Charles to pray with Pope Leo as historic State Visit to the Vatican set to start

The King will become the first British Monarch to pray publicly alongside the Pope in over 500 years when he visits the Vatican later today.

King Charles and Queen Camilla are making a State Visit to the Vatican to mark the Jubilee year of the Catholic Church.

During the first day of the visit, they will meet Pope Leo and then take part in an ecumenical service in the Sistine Chapel where they will pray next to one another.

It will be the first time since Henry VIII broke away from Rome over 500 years ago that an English monarch has prayed with a Pope.

The King and Queen arrived in Rome in the early evening of October 22, flying into Ciampino airport.

They were met by Christopher Trott, Ambassador to the Holy See, as they disembarked from their plane.

The embassy posted a message on its social media, saying ”heartfelt welcome to Their Majesties The King and Queen who have landed in Rome ahead of their historic State Visit to the Holy See. Benvenuti!”

Monsignor Javier Domingo Fernández González, Vatican City Head of the Protocol Office also greeted The King and Queen on their arrival as did Archbishop Francesco Canalini, a retired Apostolic Nuncio.

Queen Camilla said it was ”a great pleasure” to be in Rome and on her way to the Vatican. The King said it was ”wonderful to be able to come back to Rome.”

Charles III was last in Rome in April when he made a State Visit to Italy with Queen Camilla.

The King and Queen were expected to make a State Visit to the Vatican at the same time but that had to be postponed after Pope Francis became very ill.

The late Pope did meet King Charles and Queen Camilla in a private audience where he gave them his blessing as they celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary. Pope Francis died a few days later, on April 21st 2025.

Pope Leo XIV was elected on May 8th 2025. The Prince of Wales attended his inaugural Mass at the Vatican on behalf of The King.

Pope Leo XIV will welcome The King and Queen to the Vatican for their State Visit which is taking place in honour of the Catholic Church’s Jubilee year. The Catholic Church holds a Jubilee year every 25 years.

After greeting one another, King Charles, Pope Leo and Queen Camilla will move to the Sistine Chapel for an ecumenical service. It is there that The King, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, and Pope Leo, Head of the Roman Catholic Church, will pray alongside one another.

It will be a moment of history, the first time in over half a millennium that an English king and a Pope have prayed publicly together.

For centuries, there was no official and public contact between the Vatican and the Monarchy. Henry VIII broke away from Rome in the mid 16th century after his requests for an annulment to his marriage to Catherine of Aragon were refused. England at the time was in the midst of a push for religious reformation coming from parts of the ruling classes.

The queen that Henry married after Catherine, Anne Boleyn, was a noted adherent to the new religious practices. Henry’s sixth wife, Katherine Parr, was a Protestant reformer who published texts on religious change after the king’s death in 1547.

King Charles III’s great grandfather, King George V, was the first British monarch in centuries to meet a pope at the Vatican. He paid a visit to Pius XI during a trip to Rome in 1923.

Charles III has focused on stronger relations between religions for many years. At his Coronation, in 2023, his first act as he left Westminster Abbey as a crowned king was to stop and exchange private greetings and blessings with four religious leaders from several faiths.

The State Visit to the Vatican will also see The King tour the Papal Basilica of St. Paul outside the Walls where he will be named a Royal Confrater.