King Charles III and Queen Camilla will travel to the Vatican in October for a state visit where they are set to meet Pope Leo XIV.
The trip comes after an earlier planned visit was postponed due to the declining health of the late Pope Francis, who passed away in April.
The upcoming visit, confirmed by Buckingham Palace, is being described as a symbolic moment highlighting the warm relations between the Catholic Church and the Church of England, over which the King presides as supreme governor.
The meeting with Pope Leo will take place during the Catholic Church’s special jubilee year, held every quarter century, under the theme “pilgrims of hope.”
This engagement will be the King and Queen’s first formal state meeting with the new pontiff. They had previously paid a private visit to Pope Francis in April on their 20th wedding anniversary.
That meeting, which took place at Casa Santa Marta while Francis was in fragile health, lasted about 20 minutes. Palace officials later said the royal couple were “deeply touched” by his “kind remarks” on their anniversary. It turned out to be among the late Pope’s final audiences with prominent visitors.
Francis’s passing later that month paved the way for Robert Prevost, originally from Chicago, to be chosen by the conclave as Pope Leo XIV. The October visit will now mark the beginning of the King’s official engagement with the new pontiff.
Faith and unity have long been part of the King’s agenda, with his consistent efforts to foster interfaith understanding. His presence alongside Queen Camilla in Rome will be seen as a message of cooperation between the Anglican and Catholic traditions.
This year has also brought moments of deep Catholic significance for the royal family. Earlier in September, the Duchess of Kent was given a Requiem Mass, marking the first Catholic funeral of a royal family member in modern times.
The King and Queen were among those in attendance.
The King has also been active in Catholic-related events in Britain. He visited the Oratory of St Philip Neri in Birmingham, founded by St John Henry Newman, a 19th century Catholic philosopher and theologian.
Years earlier, as Prince of Wales, Charles had attended Cardinal Newman’s canonisation in Rome in 2019.
While the precise schedule of the Vatican state visit has not been revealed, it is expected to carry both personal and historical meaning, building on the late Pope’s relationship with the royal family while opening a new chapter with Pope Leo XIV.