ROME - Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla, were enjoying their Roman holiday under sunny skies on Tuesday, after arriving at Ciampino airport the evening before to embark on a state visit defined as "historic."

 This was Charles’ first royal visit to Italy since his majesty’s coronation, at a time when relations between London and Rome could be said to be experiencing a moment of particular harmony, despite Brexit. The royal couple landed in Ciampino at 5:14 p.m., with the plane escorted by two F-35 fighters of the Italian Air Force.

 Camilla wore a blue crepe dress by Fiona Clare, one of the queen's most beloved designers and the king was in a pinstripe suit with powder pink accessories. They were welcomed by the Italian ‘honour guard’ and a selection both Brits and Italians who await them along the red carpet was rolled out, whom the king greeted one by one.

 Meanwhile Camilla affirmed, ‘we are happy to be here'. Charles’ passion for Italy is well known and for the occasion Buckingham Palace published some photos of the king in Italy on its official website, while the king and queen were 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. There was also a tribute paid to Charles’ recently deceased parents, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, with photos of the five visits made to Italy by the former sovereign who passed away in 2022.

 Among the photos there are also some of the preparatory events of this visit that involved Charles and Camilla, who among other things on Wednesday 9 April were set to celebrate their twentieth wedding anniversary while in Rome, on the very day on which the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, will host an official banquet in their honour at the Quirinale.

 Early Monday evening in Rome, the royal couple commemorated the event with a photo shoot 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, were set to mark the next few days, with an additional cultural agenda in alignment with Charles' passion for art, architecture, history, which will culminate with a day in Ravenna on Thursday, with a visit to Dante's tomb and the Byron museum. The first official appointment was a ceremony at the Altare della Patria and then a meeting with Mattarella at the Quirinale, followed by a visit to the Colosseum.

 On Wednesday Charles III was to meet Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at Villa Pamphili and then address the Chambers assembled in Montecitorio, which will be the first time a British sovereign will address them in Italian.

 All this diplomacy is in support of London's latest policy surrounding the post-Brexit relaunch in the 'reset' 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.

 Rome and London share various 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 construction of a new generation fighter jet in which Japan also participates. The presence of Foreign Minister David Lammy, alongside the King on this visit, confirms his intentions to bolster relations with Rome despite the differences between the Labour government in London and the hard right coalition in Italy.

 Lammy awaited Charles on his arrival at Ciampino on the red carpet, 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.

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