The King kept himself busy on his last full day in Rome before a state banquet that he jokingly described as a candle-lit meal to mark his 20th wedding anniversary with Camilla.
The King had held a morning meeting with prime minister Giorgia Meloni and addressed both chambers of the Italian parliament before the banquet but had also found time for an unscheduled meeting with Pope Francis, who has been ill but had signalled his desire for a brief visit earlier in the day.
During his busy day, the King carried out walkabouts, saw actors perform Othello, one of many of Shakespeare’s plays that are set in Italy, while the Queen, who wore her wedding outfit for part of the day, even followed the “when in Rome do what the Romans do” mantra by trying some ice cream.
The King thanked the Italian president for organising a candlelit dinner for him on his wedding anniversary (Andrew Parsons/PA)The Queen, King and Italian President Sergio Mattarella at the State Banquet (Andrew Parsons/PA)The King and Queen Camilla arrive for the State Banquet (Aaron Chown/PA)The King at the Palazzo Quirinale in Rome (Andrew Parsons/PA)
A picture of the meeting with the Pope at the Vatican will be released on Thursday when Charles will spend most of the day in the historic city of Ravenna, carrying out another busy programme of engagements.
His speech at the state banquet was full of references to Rome’s influence on the UK as he used Monty Python’s “what have the Romans ever done for us” line to draw attention to places like Hadrian’s Wall, Carmarthen and York.
The King and Italian President Sergio Mattarella at the State Banquet (Andrew Parsons/PA)The King and Queen Camilla during their visit to the Senate of the Republic (Andrew Parsons/PA)The King delivers a speech at the Italian Parliament (Ian Vogler/Daily Mail/PA)The King delivers a speech to politicians (Ian Vogler/Daily Mirror/PA)Camilla rewore her wedding dress during a visit to the Italian Parliament. The white Anna Valentine dress has been repurposed with added embroidery (Ian Vogler/Daily Mail/PA)Queen Camilla visits an ice cream parlour (Victoria Jones/PA)Actors during a performance in Italian from Act I of William Shakespeare’s Othello by students from the Accademia Nazionale d’Arte Drammatica Silvio d’Amico watched by the King during his visit to the Mattatoio (Chris Jackson/PA)The King with Mayor of Rome Roberto Gualtieri (left) and President of Italy Sergio Mattarella at the Mattatoio (Chris Jackson/PA)The King meets members of the ensemble of the Accademia Nazionale d’Arte Drammatica (Chris Jackson/PA)The King with Foreign Secretary David Lammy to hear about discussions from a Clean Power for Growth Roundtable (Chris Jackson/PA)The King poses for a photo with Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni at Villa Doria Pamphili, in Rome (Aaron Chown/PA)The King is welcomed by Giorgia Meloni (Aaron Chown/PA)
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