THE King and Queen enjoyed an action-packed first day of their state visit to Rome yesterday.
Their eight hours of engagements in the Italian spring heat began with a specular flypast by the Red Arrows and their Italian counterparts the Frecce Tricolori.
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And Charles, receiving cancer treatment for more than a year, walked the 44 steps with Camilla to place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
They also posed at the 2,000-year-old Colosseum and shook hands with well-wishers who queued up to welcome them.
Charles and Camilla stood with President Sergio Mattarella and his daughter Laura at the Quirinale Palace balcony as they watched the aerobatics displays.
Speaking through an interpreter, Charles told his host: “This is my 18th visit here.”
The President warmly replied: “And I remember having you here at the Quirinale before on your visits to Rome.”
The King and Queen both received the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy and Charles then presented Mr Mattarella, 83, with the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath.
Charles said: “It goes back quite a long way. It’s just a token, really, of our appreciation, you’ve served for so long.”
The trip has been scaled back due to the Pope’s ill-health, with the State visit to Vatican City postponed.
But the couple still carried out four engagements spread across Rome between 10.30am and 6.30pm.
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