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TRH visit Rome and the Vatican

27th April 2009

After arriving in Italy on Sunday night, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall began their first day of engagements of their four day visit to Europe.

The Prince and The Duchess received a warm welcome as they arrived in the sunshine at the Chamber of Deputies in Rome, where His Royal Highness was delivering a speech on climate change to Italian MPs and business leaders.

In it The Prince described climate change as the “greatest threat facing our world” and said: “I believe that the response we make now to the challenge before us will be the single most critical element in defining our era” following up with the warning “it will be the one by which our generation will be judged.”

The Prince spoke of the UK and Italy having a “common purpose to lead the world away from disaster and towards a fair, safe and sustainable future” and cautioned that if we don’t learn to work “in harmony with Nature’s genius” then “genuine sustainability will be an empty, futile chimera and our grandchildren will never, ever forgive us.”

Click here to read The Prince's speech in full.

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall then travelled to the Vatican for a historic meeting with Pope Benedict XVI.

Their Royal Highnesses were greeted by an honour guard of the Swiss Guards and a Vatican nobleman before meeting the Pope for the first time.

Under Vatican protocol, The Prince met the Pope alone before they were joined by The Duchess of Cornwall who wore a black dress with matching veil, as custom dictates.

It was the first time that The Prince has had a private audience with the head of the Roman Catholic Church in the Vatican since 1985.

Their Royal Highnesses were taken on a tour of the Vatican, from the courtyard of San Damaso, which dates back to the 1500s, to the Sala dei Papi, where they sat down with the Pope.

They finished their tour of the Vatican with the traditional exchange of gifts.

The Prince said he was "touched" after the Pope presented the couple with an honorary medal and drawing of the St Peter's Basilica.

In the afternoon, Their Royal Highnesses attended a Slow Food reception at the British Embassy.  The Prince and The Duchess were given a taste of Anglo-Italian cuisine, and were offered beef from Highgrove farm, as well as Welsh lamb that had been dry-cured using Italian techniques.   

Farmer Gwyn Howells, who travelled to Italy for the event, said "It was a priviledge to meet them today.  Italy's the second most important market for Welsh lamb - and Prince Charles is a big fan of it."

The Prince of Wales has long been a supporter of the Slow Food Movement, which was founded by Carlo Petrini in Italy in 1989.

The Prince and The Duchess finished their first day's tour with visiting the archaeological site at Palatine Hill and the newly restored frescoes in the House of Augustus.