King and Queen to pay state visits to Italy and the Vatican

The King and Queen are to pay state visits to Italy and the Vatican, Buckingham Palace has confirmed. The major spring tour, which has long been trailed in the media, will take place in early April and coincides with Charles and Camilla’s 20th wedding anniversary. They will meet Pope Francis at the Vatican and celebrate the Catholic Church’s Pilgrims of Hope jubilee year. In Italy, the couple will visit Rome and the north-eastern city of Ravenna, known for its early Christian mosaic artwork.

Charles, 76, is forging ahead with regular overseas trips this year as he adapts to living with cancer. The development emerged at the end of the King’s long-haul visit to Australia and Samoa, which was described as the “perfect tonic” for the monarch. The tour announcement comes the week after Charles travelled to Poland for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. The couple will attend the Holy See, the government of the Roman Catholic Church, which is located in the Vatican – the smallest independent state in the world, which is surrounded by Rome and is the residence of the spiritual leadership of the Roman Catholic Church.

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 and broke from the Catholic Church in the 16th century to marry Anne Boleyn. Before the state visits, the King and Queen will join Hollywood star Stanley Tucci for a black tie dinner celebrating Italian cuisine at Highgrove on Friday evening.

The pair have invited the Italian-American Devil Wears Prada actor and well-known foodie and the Italian ambassador to the UK, Inigo Lambertini, to Charles’s Gloucestershire estate to enjoy a feast of sustainable Slow Food. The menu has been created by renowned Italian chef Francesco Mazzei and inspired by Tucci, who fronted the TV series Tucci – The Heart of Italy. Created using entirely British ingredients blended with Italian culinary traditions and local flavours, the dishes aim to embody the principles of Slow Food.

Drinks will be prepared by Italian mixologist Alessandro Palazzi using Italian flavours and herbs from Charles’s beloved Highgrove Gardens. The Slow Food initiative was launched in 1986 in the small Italian town of Bra when food writer Carlo Petrini took exception to the opening of a McDonald’s in Rome’s Piazza di Spagna, leading to widespread national protests. It promotes the right to good, clean and fair food for all, and strives to preserve traditional and regional cuisine.