King Charles III and Queen Camilla landed in Ciampino on a sunny afternoon to begin a state visit that has been described as "historic" , not only because it is the first in Italy since Charles's coronation, but above all because the intention is to put a seal on an already solid friendship between Rome and London, which is experiencing a moment of particular harmony.
The royal couple landed at Ciampino at 5:14 p.m., with the plane escorted by two F-35 fighters of the Italian Air Force. Extremely elegant: Camilla wears a blue crepe dress with tone-on-tone decorations, designed by Fiona Clare, one of the Queen's most beloved designers. The king in a pinstripe suit with powder pink accessories. They are welcomed by the honor guard that the occasion requires and Italian and British personalities who await them along the red carpet rolled out at the edge. The sovereign greets them one by one, stopping with each for a few moments. Meanwhile Camilla confirms: "We are happy to be here."
After all, the British sovereign's passion for Italy is well known and for the occasion Buckingham Palace evokes and celebrates it with a photo gallery published on its official website while the king and queen are traveling. The images retrace some moments of the 17 previous trips made to Italy by the then heir to the throne, the last of which was in 2021 for the G20. And there is also a tribute paid by the monarch to his deceased parents, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, through an iconographic memory of the five visits made to Italy by the sovereign who passed away in 2022. However, among the photos there are also some of the preparatory events of this visit that involved Charles and Camilla, who among other things celebrate their twentieth wedding anniversary on Wednesday 9 April, the day on which the President of the Republic will host an official banquet in their honor at the Quirinale.
In the early evening in Rome, the royal couple commemorated the event with a photo at Villa Wolkonsky, the British ambassador's residence in the capital, with Camilla in an ivory dress . Institutional meetings and moments of high symbolic value, to underline the closeness between the two countries, will mark the next few days, but also a cultural agenda that responds to Charles's passions for art, architecture, History, which will culminate in a day in Ravenna, Thursday, with a visit to Dante's tomb and the Byron museum. The first official appointment is a ceremony at the Altare della Patria, then the meeting with Mattarella at the Quirinale, and then a visit to the Colosseum.
While on Wednesday Charles III will meet the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at Villa Pamphili and then address the Chambers assembled at Montecitorio, the first time for a British sovereign, also speaking in Italian. It is the soft power of the royal house that takes the field to support London's policy, between the post-Brexit relaunch in the 'reset' policy dictated by the Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer who in Rome, and in conversation with Meloni, made one of his first visits abroad in recent months after taking office at Downing Street, and the delicate game in London between the necessary European dialogue - in which Rome can be a valid support - and the essential "special relationship" with the United States, including Donald Trump.
Rome and London share important economic and commercial interests, a solid partnership within NATO and the G7 and intense collaborations on the subject of Defense, such as the 'Global Compact Air Program' for the creation of a new generation jet in which Japan also participates. The presence of the Foreign Minister David Lammy, alongside the King on this visit, confirms his intentions. Lammy awaited Charles on the red carpet upon his arrival at Ciampino, together with the Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs Maria Tripodi, the Italian Ambassador to London Inigo Lambertini, the British Ambassador to Rome Ed Llewellyn, as well as the military attaché at the British Embassy in Rome, Colonel Matthew Smith, and the commander of the 31st Wing of the Italian Air Force, Colonel Marco Angori.
(Online Union)
