British tabloids reported Tuesday that
preparations are underway for a visit to Italy by King Charles
III and Queen Camilla, probably in April, with the monarch and
head of the Anglican Church reportedly eager to forge further
ecumenical dialogue with Pope Francis in Rome amid the Roman
Catholic Holy Year Jubilee celebrations.
Charles, 76, has often voiced his passion for Italy and will
probably visit other art cities as well as the capital, the
tabloids said.
The king will also reportedly be hoping to wield soft power with
Italian officials to help Prime Minister Keir Starmer's goal of
achieving a 'reset' of post-Brexit ties with the EU, the
tabloids said.
They also said the visit would probably coincide with the
monarchs' 20th wedding anniversary on April 9.
The visit would be Charles' third foreign trip since last year's
diagnosis of an unspecified tumour which has not kept him out of
public life, unlike the cancer struggles of his daughter-in-law
Kate.
Last June he made a short foray to the 80th anniversary
celebrations of the Allies landings in Normandy, and later in
the year he and his wife paid a much longer and more strenuous
trip to Australia and Samoa, the venue for the latest
Commonwealth summit, which he chaired.
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