Vatican Releases Photo of Pope Meeting King Charles

Vatican City: The Vatican on Thursday released a photo of Pope Francis meeting King Charles III and Queen Camilla during a surprise private visit at the Casa Santa Marta residence where he lives on Wednesday. Buckingham Palace had previously announced that plans for the British royals to have an official meeting with the head of the Catholic Church during their ongoing state visit to Italy had been cancelled due to the pope’s health concerns.

According to Ansa News Agency, the 88-year-old pope is recovering after spending 38 days in hospital with bilateral pneumonia. In the released photo, Pope Francis is seen sitting in a chair shaking hands with Queen Camilla, smiling. Notably, unlike his appearance at Sunday’s Mass in St Peter’s Square for the Jubilee of the Sick and Healthcare Workers, he was not wearing nasal cannulas for oxygen.

The Vatican stated on Wednesday, “Pope Francis met privately with their majesties, King Charles and Queen Camilla, this afternoon.” During the meeting, the pope extended his best wishes to the royal couple on the occasion of their wedding anniversary and reciprocated King Charles’s wishes for a swift recovery of his health. The meeting coincided with the royal couple’s 20th anniversary and took place following the king’s hospitalisation at the end of March due to the side effects of treatment for cancer.