TAKING VISITORS

King Charles and Queen Camilla Make Surprise Visit to Pope Francis

The royals had a private audience with the pope in the Vatican after their original plans to meet were cancelled.

King Charles and Queen Camilla made an unexpected visit to Pope Francis during a state visit to Italy Wednesday. Buckingham Palace said that the royal couple “were delighted the pope was well enough to host them—and to have had the opportunity to share their best wishes in person.” Two weeks ago, Buckingham Palace said that the king and queen’s visit to the Vatican had to be postponed due to the pope’s health. According to a source, Charles and Camilla expressed their “hopes and prayers that Pope Francis’ health will enable the visit to go ahead.” Ultimately, a surprise visit was able to be arranged, the Holy See press office confirming in a statement that the pope met the royals privately Wednesday afternoon. “In the course of the meeting, the Pope expressed his best wishes to Their Majesties on the occasion of their wedding anniversary and reciprocated His Majesty’s wishes for a speedy recovery of his health,” it read. The couple celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary Wednesday. Pope Francis was admitted to a hospital in February for bronchitis, which quickly turned into double pneumonia. He was discharged March 23 and made a surprise appearance Sunday at a mass dedicated to the sick and health workers. Charles also recently suffered a health scare of his own, having been hospitalized March 28 due to side effects from his cancer treatment. Charles had previously met Pope Francis in 2017 and 2019, before becoming king. The king and queen’s state visit in Italy will come to a close April 10.