Nostalgic photos of British royals living la dolce vita in Italy

Ciao from Princess Diana, Princess Kate, Prince Harry and more

Alexandra HurtadoUS Royal News Correspondent - New York

2 minutes agoMay 13, 2026, 8:51 PM GMT+1

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British royals have long been saying buongiorno to Italy! It's the country the Princess of Wales undertook her first overseas trip to since undergoing chemotherapy. It's also where Catherine studied – the British Institute in Florence – during her gap year before meeting her future husband, Prince William.

The late Queen Elizabeth II visited the Holy See and the Republic of Italy four times, while King Charles has officially visited Italy 18 times. During his trip in 2025, the King called the country "irresistible." In his address to the Italian Parliament, Charles said: "It has been one of the pleasures of my life to come to know this irresistible country, and from Turin to Palermo, Verona to Naples, Florence to Trieste, I have learned a little more about this nation and have come to admire it even more."

Queen Elizabeth returned to the Vatican in 1980. In an address to the British monarch, Pope John Paul II said: "NINETEEN YEARS AGO my predecessor John XXIII welcomed Your Majesty and Your Royal Highness to the Vatican. Today this joy and this pleasure belong to me, and it is my desire to greet both of you with the same cordiality and respect that marked the welcome extended by my predecessor."

"On that occasion, John XXIII spoke of the great simplicity and dignity with which Your Majesty bears the weight of your many responsibilities. Two decades later, these observations are still so very apt, and it is most evident that the responsibilities incumbent on you have far from diminished. The needs of humanity itself have dramatically increased, as have the problems that confront it in so many vital areas."

Queen Elizabeth had a private audience with Pope Francis in 2014. It marked the British royal's fifth meeting with a Pope at the Vatican and seventh overall. During the audience, the pontiff gave the Queen a gift for her great-grandson, Prince George. "That is very nice. He will be thrilled by that when he's a little older," she said, according to the National Catholic Register.

Less than two weeks before the passing of the 266th pontiff, King Charles and Queen Camilla privately met with Pope Francis at the Vatican. The visit took place on the royal couple's 20th wedding anniversary. During the meeting, the "Pope expressed his best wishes to Their Majesties on the occasion of their wedding anniversary."

Charles and Camilla, then-the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, kicked off a six-day royal visit to Italy in 2017 in Florence.

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip appeared on the balcony of the Quirinal Palace with then-Italian President Giovanni Gronchi in 1961.

Princess Diana wowed in a red mini dress at a 1995 reception at the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice.

It's not every day a gondola in Venice encounters royalty like this one in 2009.

On October 23, 2025, King Charles met with Pope Leo XIV for the first time since he was elected pontiff. His Majesty and Queen Camilla undertook a state visit to the Holy See, joining the pope to celebrate the 2025 Jubilee Year.

Pope Leo and the King, who is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, attended a historic prayer service at the Sistine Chapel, which marked "the joining of hands between the Catholic Church and Church of England in a celebration of ecumenism."

The Princess of Wales was presented with the Primo Tricolore award, Reggio Emilia's highest honour, on the first day of her 2026 landmark visit to the Italian city.

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