King Charles & Queen Camilla to Mark Major Marital Milestone on Tour—and There’s an Eerie Connection to the Past

Has it really been 20 years?

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By Rachel Bowie

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Published Mar 19, 2025

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5:16pm

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How time flies! In just a few short weeks, King Charles is set to celebrate a remarkable twenty years of marriage to his one true love, Queen Camilla.

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The marital milestone will occur in a special place, too. Just this week, Buckingham Palace confirmed that the pair’s royal tour of Italy that had been set for April 7 through 10 will go forth—and the dates just happen to coincide with their milestone wedding anniversary. (Seems like a pretty romantic place to celebrate, no?)

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But there’s an eerie overlap: Charles and Camilla famously got hitched on April 9, 2005, but only after shifting their wedding date by a day at the last minute so that Prince Charles could attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II. (He died on April 2; Queen Elizabeth II asked her son to shift his wedding date to Camilla—set to take place six days later—by a day and he did.)

Fast forward to today and the king and queen’s upcoming 20th wedding anniversary once again has a connection to the pope. An official statement from the palace reads: “On Tuesday 8 April, and clearly subject to Pope Francis’s health, their majesties will visit the Holy See to join Pope Francis in celebrating the 2025 jubilee.” Pope Francis—who is 88—is currently hospitalized and battling a complex lung infection among other ailments.

As King, Charles serves as head of the Church of England (which famously split from the Catholic Church in 1534). However, the jubilee is a significant year for the Catholic Church, and according to the palace, his attendance would mark a major step forward in relations. The current plan is that the king and queen will have an audience with the pope and attend a service in the Sistine Chapel that reflects on both King Charles and Pope Francis’s lifelong commitment to nature. The king will also visit the Papal Basilica of ‘St. Paul’s Outside the Walls.’

As for how they’ll spend their actual anniversary on April 9? That’s TBD, especially given the pace of their royal calendar during the tour. Beyond Rome, they’re set to visit Ravenna, too.

At the very least, we hope gifts are exchanged. (The traditional gift for 20 years is china, which marks the beauty and delicate nature of your relationship.) Given what Charles and Camilla have weathered together this past year with his own health battle, this couldn’t be more apropos.

Rachel Bowie

Senior Director, Special Projects and Royals

Writes and produces family, fashion, wellness, relationships, money and royals content
Podcast co-host and published author with a book about the British Royal Family
Studied sociology at Wheaton College and received a masters degree in journalism from Emerson College

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King Charles & Queen Camilla to Mark Major Marital Milestone on Tour—and There’s an Eerie Connection to the Past

Has it really been 20 years?

Senior Director, Special Projects and Royals

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