Historic hand of friendship and unity as Charles prays with Pope

THE King has become the first head of the Church of England ever to pray with a Pope in a landmark moment of Christian unity.

- By Emily Ferguson Royal Editor in Rome

Landmark...service at Sistine Chapel. Right, seat with King's arms

Charles and wife Camilla received a red-carpet welcome at the Vatican's Apostolic Palace yesterday before meeting US-born Pope Leo, 70, for the first time.

The whirlwind state visit is understood to be of deep personal significance to Charles, 76, who has spent decades bringing together different faiths and communities.

At noon, the King and Queen attended an ecumenical service with the Pope inside the famous Sistine Chapel.

They took their seats on golden thrones at the front of the congregation, which featured ranks of cardinals.

The midday prayer saw the Children of the Choir of His Majesty's Chapel Royal and St George's Chapel, Windsor, perform If Ye Love Me by 16th-century English Catholic composer Thomas Tallis.

The Choir of the Sistine Chapel and lay clerks from Windsor sang two psalms and there was an introduction by the pontiff and a reading by Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper. Charles, the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, became the first British monarch to pray at a public service with the head of the Catholic Church since 1534, when Henry VIII broke with Rome and declared himself head of the Church.