King enjoys Shakespeare performance in company of Italian actor Luca Zingaretti

The King met Italian actor Luca Zingaretti, famed for playing the food-loving Inspector Montalbano, when he celebrated the nation’s acting heritage.

Charles chatted to the popular actor, whose portrayal of the Scillian-based detective has proved a hit in Italy and the UK, and then watched the next crop of acting hopefuls perform an emotional scene from Shakespeare’s Othello.

After watching a scene that included the moment Othello strangles his wife Desdemona on their marital bed in a fit of jealousy, the King met the actors who performed at Mattatoio, a late 19th century slaughterhouse in Rome that is being regenerated.

He joked his “Italian was not good enough” to follow the performance, but guests could keep up with the action thanks to an English language extract of Shakespeare in a programme.

One of the students from the Accademia Nazionale d’Arte Drammatica Silvio d’Amico had been thrown to the ground during the scene, and Charles asked her “not too many bruises, the fall was quite hard”.

Mr Zingaretti trained at the academy and said about the role Shakespeare plays in Italian theatre: “I was trained on Shakespeare, probably like most Italian actors are.

“In Shakespeare, you can find all styles, everything is there – life, death, betrayal, love – all those big themes.”

Montalbano is famed as much for his love of Italian cooking as solving complex crimes and the TV series, which highlights Italian culture and family life, has been adapted from the popular books by Andrea Camilleri.

The actor joked about the popularity of the detective he plays, saying: “The whole of Europe north of the Alps is enchanted by places where you can go swimming in the winter.”

He added: “Montalbano represents values that were embodied by our grandparents, so represents something that appeals to many.”

After watching the performance the King moved to another theatre to hear the conclusions of a discussion on Clean Power for Growth.

It was co-hosted by Foreign Secretary David Lammy and his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani, and focused on overcoming challenges to a clean power transition through responsible leadership, global growth and better supply chains.

Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, told the gathering – which included Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley – that “even though the political wind may not be blowing in the right direction for sustainability and climate change”, economists still favour sustainability.

Meanwhile the Queen visited the Istituto Comprensivo Alessandro Manzoni and met youngsters taking part in a competition to mark the 80th anniversary of the British Council.

When she left Camilla was presented with cards marking her 20th wedding anniversary created by the students, and a surprise gift of a margherita pizza from a local family restaurant, Pizza Viola, by owner Federica Viola.

The Queen said: “This looks delicious, we shall enjoy it later.”