It was a welcome designed to catch our attention, for a visit that meant everything to the King.
The Swiss guard, standing to attention as the UK’s national anthem played out in the courtyard outside the Apostolic Palace.
Queen Camilla, wearing a distinctive black mantilla as a mark of respect to the Pope, as they made their way inside to meet Pope Leo XIV for the first time.
We know King Charles had built a relationship with Pope Francis before his death, now it appeared he was building a friendly rapport with his predecessor, as Pope Leo and the King happily talked away, both in English, meaning their conversation flowed more naturally.
But while friendships between heads of state do matter diplomatically, this was also about making history.
Inside the Sistine Chapel, they prayed alongside each other. The first time a monarch and a pontiff have done that for 500 years, since Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church.
Pope Leo greets King Charles and Queen Camilla at the Vatican. Pic: AP
Pope Leo and Archbishop of York are joined by the King and Queen during an act of worship in the Sistine Chapel. Pic: Vatican Media/Reuters
With King Charles also the supreme governor of the Church of England, the optics could not have been more significant for relations between the two faiths.
If you wanted to see how much King Charles’s interfaith work is appreciated, it came at the basilica of St Paul’s outside the walls.
An abbey with long-held links with English monarchs, where he was given the ceremonial title of royal confrater, and a special seat was made just for him and his heirs.
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Alongside religious matters, the two men talked publicly about their shared passion for the environment ahead of the UN’s climate conference COP, taking place in just over a week’s time.
With the King sent here on behalf of the government, and the foreign office emphasising how the Holy See is a vital global partner, we really saw brought into focus the soft power of the royals and the church, and how influential both can be.
King Charles’s visit brings into focus the soft power of the royals. Pic PA
King Charles at a garden reception at the Pontifical Beda College, where men prepare for the priesthood. Pic: PA
The interactions between the King and Pope showed a shared interest in a range of global issues.
But as the head of the Catholic Church for England and Wales, Cardinal Vincent Nichols pointed out to me, here are also two heads of state who sadly have issues around allegations of historical sexual abuse hanging over their institutions, and the decision on how to address that publicly.
There will be relief that there were no updates on the Prince Andrew problem today.
But despite Andrew vehemently denying that he has done anything wrong, revelations have kept coming.
And that is where the jeopardy lies for the royal family as they try to draw our attention back to important moments like this.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source news.sky.com ’
