King and Queen to meet Pope Leo on state visit to the Holy See

The King and Queen will have a first meeting with the Pope during a state visit to Vatican City next month.

Buckingham Palace said the couple will join Leo XIV, elected earlier this year following the death of Pope Francis, in late October to celebrate the 2025 jubilee year.

Charles and Camilla had a meeting with Francis just 12 days before his death.

The couple’s historic state visit to the Vatican in early April was cancelled because of the Pope’s poor health, but they managed to visit the head of the Roman Catholic Church privately during their trip to Italy.

Charles and Camilla’s meeting with the Pope in what would be his final weeks was arranged at the last minute and took place on their 20th wedding anniversary on April 9, with the pontiff wanting to personally wish them a happy anniversary.

The King, in an official message released following the news of Francis’s death on April 21, said he and Camilla were “most deeply saddened”.

In May, Buckingham Palace said the King sent a private message to Pope Leo XIV, congratulating him on his election.

Pope Leo, the first ever pontiff from the US, marked the start of his papacy by calling for unity within the church and for it to act as a “leaven of harmony for humanity”.

Formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost from Chicago, Pope Leo was elected on May 8 after a conclave meeting of 133 cardinals from 70 countries in just over 24 hours.

In the days after his election, the 70-year-old outlined some of his key priorities as Pope, saying the Holy See’s three pillars of diplomacy are peace, justice and truth during his first foreign policy address.

During his first Sunday blessing, Leo called for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Leo has also identified artificial intelligence as one of the most critical issues facing humanity, saying it poses challenges to defending human dignity, justice and labour.

He is a dual citizen of the United States and Peru, where he first served as a missionary and then as archbishop, meaning he is the first Pope from each country.

A papal jubilee is traditionally marked every 25 years in the Catholic Church.

The King and Queen’s visit is also expected to celebrate the ecumenical work by the Church of England and the Catholic Church, reflecting the Jubilee year’s theme of walking together as “Pilgrims of Hope”.

The King is Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

The role dates back to Henry VIII, who named himself Supreme Head of the Church of England after he was excommunicated by the pope, Pope Paul III, and broke from the Catholic Church in the 16th century to marry Anne Boleyn.