King and Queen meet privately with Pope at Vatican: Live

Charles told the banquet during his speech of the “very precarious and fragile” world in which they lived.

“As we face those challenges, we are doing so not alone, but together – as friends, as allies, as partners in Europe and beyond,” he said.

“We are protecting our planet and its future for our children and our grandchildren – where we have so much we can achieve together, as I saw at an inspiring round-table on clean growth with British and Italian business leaders this afternoon.”

Charles then lightened the mood when he referenced some classic British comedy: “But I, for one, have never asked that question, made famous by Monty Python, ‘what have the Romans ever done for us?’

“We see their imprint on what they knew as Britannia every day, from London to Carmarthen, from York to Hadrian’s Wall.

“Italy has succeeded, where Rome failed, in extending its influence to all corners of the United Kingdom, not least thanks to a beloved diaspora whose charm has proved mightier than the sword.”

The King jokingly referred to a banquet marking his Italian state visit and held on his 20th wedding anniversary as a “small romantic, candle-lit dinner for two”.

Charles and Queen Camilla were guests of honour at the black-tie event hosted by Italy’s President Sergio Mattarella where the King spoke about the uncertainty of the modern world.

But when he addressed guests at the Quirinale Palace on Wednesday evening he lighted the mood by saying to the president: “Today marks, as you say, the Queen’s and my 20th wedding anniversary.

“On that score, I must say it really is very good of you, Mr President, to lay on this small romantic, candle-lit dinner for two…!”

Amid laughter, he then said, in Italian: “I can only say that to be able to spend this moment here in Italy, a country of which the Queen and I are so deeply fond, is truly special.”

Among the guests were celebrity chef Giorgio Locatelli and tenor Andrea Bocelli along with a host of Italian Government ministers and designers Sir Paul Smith and Brunello Cuccinelli.

Their journey to this milestone was fraught with challenges: interfering families, previous marriages, and relentless public scrutiny.

For years, their relationship remained largely obscured, overshadowed by the “fairytale” of Princess Diana.

As royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith, author of Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life, notes, “We missed the love story, there’s no doubt about it. But in fairness, it was not something that was very visible.”

Culture secretary Lisa Nandy came right out with it. “I’m not afraid to say when I change my mind, and I have changed my mind about that,” she said when asked today on ITV’s Good Morning Britain about her assertion during the 2020 Labour leadership campaign that she would vote to abolish the monarchy if such a referendum was held.

“In principle, I believe that people should have the power to decide who rules them,” she said. “But I think the monarchy under the Queen and under this current King commands strong public support. If you look at the turmoil going on in the world, then we do need a royal family who are able to help us to deliver the benefits to Britain.”

As she spoke, King Charles was doing some of the government’s diplomatic donkey work, meeting Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, on a state visit to Rome. He also helped Keir Starmer on his mission to the White House, where the prime minister brandished an invitation from the King to Donald Trump for an “unprecedented” second state visit to the UK.

It is funny how the radical egalitarians of the people’s party become ardent royalists in office.

The scene is a far cry from the billowy April day 20 years earlier that marked the beginning of the King and Queen’s married life. Back in 2005, it was not weather for fly-away headgear but Camilla had no choice.

Only royal brides who tie the knot in churches are blessed with heavy-set tiaras – Charles’s second wife had to make do with golden feathers. A hand was required to clasp them to her head; the Queen, standing two steps above, muttered something – perhaps “I told you so”?

Camilla smiled and Charles dodged a feather in the eye. But at least their nuptials had been blessed, by God, in St George’s Chapels, and by the late Queen’s (fleeting) presence. Her Majesty turned up at the end, after the actual wedding in Windsor Guildhall.

It would never do for the defender of the faith to ally herself too closely with the younger generations’ mistakes. Poor Camilla. Even Harry felt a begrudging sympathy in the build-up to the big day.

Amidst the current turmoil, the prospect of bombastic rule-breaker president Donald Trump having to sit down beside our tender King, a sensitive soul who loves plants, organic food and un-airbrushed Camilla, is perversely pleasing.

The Queen has marked her 20th anniversary with the King by wearing her wedding dress on the couple’s state visit to Italy.

Camilla arrived at the Italian Parliament on Wednesday wearing her silk chiffon dress from her civil wedding in 2005.

The white dress was modified for the occasion by its designer Anne Valentine, with additional embroidery by King’s Foundation artisan Beth Somerville.

Camilla previously rewore the outfit with a different hat and set of shoes for the opening of the Welsh Parliament in June 2007.

The outfit was originally made for the couple’s Windsor Guildhall wedding on April 9 2005 by Ms Valentine’s and Antonia Robinson’s former fashion house Robinson Valentine.

For her civil wedding, Camilla paired the outfit with a hat, designed by Philip Treacy – made of natural straw, overlaid with ivory French lace and trimmed with a graphic fountain of feathers.

Camilla then wore a separate chiffon dress with a floor-length embroidered pale blue and gold coat for the wedding blessing at St George’s Chapel, Windsor.

Clarence House said at the time that the design team wanted a “crisp clean look with subtle detailing” for the ceremony at the Windsor Guildhall.

The lacquered discs were made in Switzerland while the hand-worked herringbone detail on the coat was embroidered in-house using silk thread.

Marylebone-based Ms Valentine was granted a Royal Warrant of Appointment by Camilla in December 2024.

The royal visit was broken by local media after the couple’s convoy was spotted leaving the Vatican.

Charles and Camilla, who are coming to the end of a four-day state visit to Italy, were due to hold a separate state visit to the Holy See, the government of the Roman Catholic Church in the Vatican, but it was cancelled before the trip began to allow the Pope to recover from his illness.

Buckingham Palace said on 25 March that part of the tour was put on hold by mutual agreement after medical advice suggested the Pope would benefit from extra time to recuperate.

The pontiff is under doctors’ orders to observe two months of convalescence during which he should avoid large gatherings.

The King and Queen had a private meeting with the Pope at the Vatican on Wednesday afternoon, Buckingham Palace said.

Charles and Camilla spent part of Wednesday afternoon with the Pontiff, sharing their best wishes for his recovery, as he continues recuperating after receiving hospital treatment for double pneumonia.

The royal pair, who are in Italy to mark their 20th wedding anniversary, were originally scheduled to meet the Pope as part of their busy itinerary, however the meeting was put off due to his recent hospitalisation.

• Prince Harry’s decision to step back as a senior working royal was described as so unusual as to be in a “category of its own” by his barrister.

• Harry, 40, regularly conferred with his legal team on the final day of the two-day hearing, at times shaking his head, as the government’s lawyers argued that it was the right decision to adopt a “bespoke” approach to his security.

• Sir James Eadie KC, for the Home Office said that the basis for the bespoke approach “had positive advantages from a security assessment”.

• As the court took a recess, a woman shouted “I support you Prince Harry” in a dramatic outburst prompting the duke to be escorted out of court by his security.

• Summing up, Harry’s barrister said the duke’s “life is at stake” over his “inferior” security arrangements.

• At the end of the hearing, judge Sir Geoffrey Vos said the Court of Appeal’s decision would be given in writing at a later date, which was “most unlikely” to be before Easter.

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.