The Vatican on Thursday released of
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 said 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.
The 88-year-old is convalescing after spending 38 days in
hospital with bilateral pneumonia.
In the photo the pope was sitting in a chair shaking hands with
Camilla, smiling and, unlike in the surprise appearance he made
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.
"Pope Francis met privately with their majesties, King Charles
and Queen Camilla, this afternoon," the Vatican said on
Wednesday.
"In the course of the meeting, the pope expressed his best
wishes to their majesties on the occasion of their wedding
anniversary and reciprocated his majesty's wishes for a speedy
recovery of his health," it continued, referring to the the
royal couple's 20th anniversary on Wednesday and the king's
hospitalisation at the end of March due to the side effects of
treatment for cancer.
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