state visit

There was a brief hospital stay for the King in March after he suffered side effects, but he was well enough in April for a state visit to Italy with a busy schedule and is said to have plans for further overseas trips.

The state visit would have been unimaginable just two years ago, when President Ramaphosa led a delegation of African leaders to Kyiv on a self-styled peace mission.

There had originally been plans for a state visit to the Vatican, but the Pope's serious health problems meant that it had been cancelled.

King Charles has been a great advocate of building links between different faiths and the planned state visit to the Vatican would have seen symbolic moments such as an ecumenical service in the Sistine Chapel.

The King and Camilla met the pontiff on a state visit to Italy earlier this month - one of several he said he remembered with "particular affection".