King Charles to start four-day state go to to Italy with Queen Camilla by his facet after most cancers therapy unwanted side effects noticed him admitted to hospital
The King and Queen will begin a four-day state visit to Italy later today, where they will celebrate the UK’s ties with the European nation.
Charles and Camilla will visit Rome and the city of Ravenna, as they use the ‘soft power’ diplomacy of the monarchy to strengthen Britain’s relationship with its ally.
A separate state visit to the Holy See, the government of the Roman Catholic Church, in the Vatican, has been cancelled, as Pope Francis is recuperating after leaving hospital following treatment for double pneumonia.
With a number of Vatican events removed from the itinerary in Rome, the remaining engagements in the Italian capital have been spread over two days, and extra elements added to some engagements.
At the weekend the Pope made a surprise appearance in St Peter’s Square, in the Vatican. He appeared with an oxygen tube under his nose and was using a wheelchair.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Clarence House in London on March 25
Charles will hold audiences with President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
Charles will become the first British monarch to address both houses of Italy’s parliament – the chamber of deputies and the senate of the republic.
The King will also hold audiences with President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and he and his wife will attend a black-tie state banquet at the Palazzo Quirinale, hosted by the president on the evening of their 20th wedding anniversary.
The UK and Italy’s defence co-operation will be marked by a joint flypast over Rome by the Italian air force’s aerobatic team, Frecce Tricolori, and the RAF’s Red Arrows.
In Ravenna, near Bologna, Charles and Camilla will mark the 80th anniversary of the province’s liberation from Nazi occupation by allied forces, on April 10 1945, during a town hall reception.
Charles and Camilla will attend a black-tie state banquet at the Palazzo Quirinale (pictured)
Pope Francis speaks to the faithful in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican yesterday
They will celebrate literary culture by visiting Dante’s tomb and the Queen will make a solo trip to the Byron museum.
Charles returned to official public duties on Tuesday last week after cancelling a string of engagements at the end of the previous week, when he experienced temporary side effects from cancer treatment on March 27.
Buckingham Palace announced that evening that the King had ‘required a short period of observation in hospital’ earlier that day.
Planned engagements in Birmingham the following day, March 28, were cancelled to prioritise his recovery as a precautionary measure.
A source described it as a ‘most minor bump in a road that is very much heading in the right direction’.
