Overview
- Charles and Leo participated in an ecumenical service in the Sistine Chapel that was broadcast by Vatican Media, with Pope Leo XIV and Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell presiding.
- The liturgy focused on environmental stewardship; UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper read from Romans as choirs from the Sistine Chapel and Windsor’s St. George’s Chapel provided music.
- Earlier in the Apostolic Palace, the parties held a private audience and exchanged gifts, including a silver image of St. Edward the Confessor and a replica of a Christus Pantokrator mosaic.
- In the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, Charles was installed as a Royal Confrater and received a dedicated chair to remain in the basilica as a sign of spiritual fellowship.
- Multiple outlets reported reciprocal honors, including Charles conferring a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on the Pope and enrolling him as a confrater of St. George’s Chapel, while coverage in the UK noted renewed scrutiny of Prince Andrew following Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir.