Britain’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla made a historic visit to the Vatican on Thursday, meeting with Pope Leo XIV in a landmark event for both the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church.

The royal couple was received at the Apostolic Palace by the Swiss Guard, the pope’s elite ceremonial bodyguards, and welcomed by Reverend Monsignor Leonardo Sapienza, regent of the papal household. They then proceeded to a private audience with the pontiff in the papal library.

In a first for a British monarch in 500 years, King Charles publicly prayed with the pope in an ecumenical service broadcast live on Vatican media. The ceremony, held in the Sistine Chapel beneath Michelangelo’s iconic ceiling, was led jointly by Pope Leo and the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell.

The service focused on environmental conservation and protection, causes long championed by King Charles. Buckingham Palace described the visit as “historic,” noting it marked the first time since King Henry VIII’s 16th-century break with Rome that a British monarch prayed publicly with a pope.

King Charles, 76, as supreme governor of the Church of England, continues a long tradition of engagement with the Catholic Church, despite centuries of division. Queen Elizabeth II was the first British monarch to visit the Holy See in 1961, nearly five centuries after the Reformation.

During the visit, the royal couple will also attend a service at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, where King Charles will be honoured as a “Royal Confrater” and presented with a specially designed seat for him and future British monarchs.

The visit underscores ongoing efforts to strengthen ties between the Church of England and the Vatican, signaling a new chapter in ecumenical relations.