VATICAN (SE): Pope Francis met with the United Kingdom’s King Charles and Queen Camilla on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 2, the occasion of their 20th wedding anniversary and the four year anniversary of the death of the king’s father, Prince Philip of Edinburgh, Vatican News reported.
The private audience took place at Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta, where the pope has been convalescing for over two weeks after being released from Gemelli Hospital, and where he has recently resumed various meetings.
In a statement released on the evening of April 2, the Holy See Press Office said that during the course of the meeting, the pope expressed his best wishes to the royal couple on the occasion of their wedding anniversary and reciprocated King Charles’ wishes for a speedy recovery of his health.
Pope Francis’ best wishes were a reference to the king’s condition following his hospitalisation at the end of March due to the side effects of treatment for cancer, which was diagnosed a year ago.
An official meeting with the pope had been announced by Buckingham Palace at the beginning of March, during Pope Francis’ hospitalisation due to bilateral pneumonia.
Later, it was announced that Charles and Camilla would not see the pope due to needs of his convalescence, and that they looked forward to visiting him “in the Holy See, once he has recovered,” Vatican News reported.
During their three-day visit to Rome, the British monarchs met with the president of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, and prime minister Giorgia Meloni. On Wednesday, the King also became the first British monarch to address the assembled Houses of [Italian] Parliament in Montecitorio.
