King Charles met Pope Leo in the Vatican on Thursday for their first meeting since the American pope’s election earlier this year. The two held private talks, prayed together in the Sistine Chapel, and shared a few laughs.
Their joint prayer marked a historic moment — the first time in over 500 years, since Henry VIII in 1534, that a reigning British monarch prayed publicly with a pope.
Known for his humor, King Charles joked about the cameras filming them, calling them a “constant hazard,” to which Pope Leo replied, “You get used to it.”