King prays with pope for first time since Henry VIII split with Rome

King Charles has made history as 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.

- Angela Giuffrida Vatican City Rory Carroll Dublin

The king 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.

The royal visit to the Vatican state comes at a sensitive time for Charles, 76, after his brother, Prince Andrew, agreed to give up his use of the Duke of York title amid concern about his relationship with the late convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Charles, however, appeared to be in good spirits. Before the service, when he was greeted by Leo inside the Apostolic Palace, where the pontiff lives, the monarch pointed to the cameras recording the event and joked they were “a constant hazard”. Leo, 70, responded: “You get used to it.”

The Sistine Chapel service, which mixed Catholic and Anglican traditions, began with the Lord's prayer in English. Hymns were sung by members of the Sistine Chapel choir and visiting members of two royal choirs: the St George's Chapel choir of Windsor Castle and the children's choir of the Chapel Royal of St James's Palace.