Royal correspondent
King Charles and Queen Camilla are to host actor Stanley Tucci at a formal dinner on Friday evening to mark the confirmation of a state visit to Italy later this year.
The royal couple will travel to Italy in April and meet Pope Francis and Italian leaders, as well as carry out engagements in Rome and the ancient city of Ravenna, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.
It is expected to coincide with the King and Queen’s 20th wedding anniversary on 9 April.
Tucci – who presented Searching For Italy, a programme celebrating Italian food and culture – will make a speech at an event at the royals’ Highgrove estate in Gloucestershire.
The Palace’s confirmation of the state visit to Italy suggests the King is well enough for an overseas journey, as he continues with his cancer treatment.
Tucci – an American of Italian descent starred in the Oscar-nominated Vatican thriller Conclave and has spoken about his experiences of throat cancer, which he said adversely affected his sense of taste.
The Italian-inspired evening at Highgrove will also be attended by the Italian ambassador to the UK, Inigo Lambertini.
Chef Francesco Mazzei will use local ingredients to cook an Italian menu, with the dishes reflecting the “slow food” style of cooking, which advocates fresh, regional dishes cooked in traditional ways.
Mixologist Alessandro Palazzi will be on hand to make drinks using Italian flavours and herbs grown at Highgrove.
The King – an enthusiast for art, culture and religion – has been a regular visitor to Italy, with this upcoming trip to be his 18th official visit.
State visits are carried out on behalf of the Foreign Office and there are likely to be meetings with senior Italian government figures – an effort to build relations with an important European partner – though full details of the itinerary are still to be revealed.
While there, the King and Queen may celebrate 20 years since their wedding in April 2005.
The date of the ceremony had to be changed because of the death of Pope John Paul II, with the then Prince Charles travelling to Rome to attend the funeral.
The visit to meet Pope Francis also coincides with 2025 being a special “jubilee” year for the Catholic church, held every 25 years.
The King and Queen will join the Pope for the celebrations as “Pilgrims of Hope”, according to the Palace.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited the Pope on the last such jubilee year in 2000.
The King has met Pope Francis on previous occasions, including at the Vatican in 2019 when the English-born Cardinal John Henry Newman was canonised as a saint.
This will be the first time they have met since Charles became monarch and supreme governor of the Church of England.
