King Charles makes history by praying publicly with Pope Leo

Charles becomes first reigning British monarch to pray with a pope publicly since Henry VIII split from Rome in 1534

• A rift that took 500 years to repair: King Charles prays with the pope

King Charles has made history after becoming the first reigning British monarch to pray publicly with a pope since Henry VIII split from Rome in 1534, an event perceived as a symbolic step in the reconciliation between the Catholic and Anglican churches.

The monarch and his wife, Queen Camilla, joined Pope Leo for a service under Michelangelo’s ceiling frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, where in May Leo was elected the first US pontiff to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.