The king said he was “deeply saddened” to hear of the pope's death, while JD Vance, the pontiff’s final international visitor, said he was “happy” to see the “obviously very ill” Francis on Easter Sunday.

The King and Queen visited with the Pope for about 20 minutes on April 9, which also happened to be their 20th wedding anniversary.

King Charles previously met with Pope Francis in 2019, during the canonization ceremony of Cardinal Newman at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City. (Cardinal Newman was the first English saint since the Forty Martyrs were canonized in 1970, and the first British saint since St. John Ogilvie in 1976.)