Charles and Camilla Meet Pope Francis At The Vatican

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall had a private audience with Pope Francis on Tuesday as part of their week-long tour of Europe.

Taking place in the Pope Paul VI Audience Hall, the audience lasted twenty minutes. Afterwards, the couple and the Pope presented each other with gifts – a hamper of goods from the Highgrove estate for Pope Francis; a bronze olive branch and the Pope’s papal document on climate change for the royals.

“Wherever you go, may you be a man of peace,” Pope Francis said to Prince Charles during the gift swap (the olive branch is a symbol of peace).

In a sign of changing times at the Vatican, the Duchess did not wear black or a mantilla, as has been usual tradition for non-Catholic female royals in the past. Instead, she looked elegant in a gold frock from her favourite designer, Anna Valentine, accessories with a matching scarf and pearl jewellery.

Earlier in the day upon their arrival in Rome, Prince Charles and the Duchess stopped in at the Italian capitals’ British School before being given a tour of the Vatican Library and Secret Archives, where they were shown a number of documents from the 1500s that link England and the Catholic Church.

Filed under The United Kingdom
Tagged Audience, Official Visit, Pope Francis, The Duchess of Cornwall, The Prince of Wales, Vatican City.

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