The King and Queen have been pictured during a private meeting with Pope Francis, who is recovering from double pneumonia.
Charles and Camilla visited the recuperating pontiff at the Vatican during Wednesday afternoon the day the couple celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary.
In the photograph, the Queen is shaking the hand of Pope Francis, who is seated, while the King stands next to her smiling.
There was an exchange of gifts between the couple and the head of the Roman Catholic Church, and Charles can be seen holding a small red box.
News of the meeting leaked out before it was due to be officially announced after the King’s limousine was spotted leaving the Vatican.
Buckingham Palace posted the picture on the royal family’s official X, formerly Twitter, account with the words “Che occasione speciale!” – what a special occasion.
It went on to say: “A special moment for Their Majesties as they privately met His Holiness Pope Francis at the Vatican yesterday.
“The King and Queen were deeply touched by The Pope’s kind remarks about their 20th wedding anniversary and honoured to be able to share their best wishes to him in person.”
The couple are dressed in black as a traditional mark of respect in the image released on the final day of Charles and Camilla’s four-day state visit to Rome which they will spend in the city of Ravenna.
The King and Queen were due to hold a separate state visit to the Holy See, the government of the Roman Catholic Church in the Vatican, but it was cancelled before their trip began to allow the Pope to recover from his illness.
Francis made his first public appearance since his bout of double pneumonia on Sunday, when he appeared in St Peter’s Square in a wheelchair during a special Jubilee Mass for the sick following his discharge from hospital two weeks previously.
He wore nasal tubes to receive supplemental oxygen, which the Vatican said at the time is being gradually reduced.
It is understood the visit was confirmed on Wednesday morning and the pontiff had issued the invitation to Charles and Camilla for the private audience.
The meeting lasted 20 minutes, likely taking place in Francis’s private apartment, and came after Charles reportedly said “I pray for the Pope”, during a reception on Tuesday for members of the British community at Villa Volkonsky, the residence of the Britain’s ambassador to Italy.
Charles last met Francis in 2019 when he was the Prince of Wales and travelled to the Vatican to attend the canonisation of St John Henry Newman.
It is understood discussions are continuing about rescheduling the King’s visit to the Holy See which was due to celebrate the Papal Jubilee, held every 25 years.
In Ravenna the King and Queen will celebrate literary culture by visiting Dante’s tomb and the Queen will make a solo trip to the Byron museum.
At the Piazza San Francesco in Ravenna, the couple will tour the final resting place of the legendary Italian literary figure and attend a reading of his classic work The Divine Comedy.
Later Camilla, a keen reader and supporter of a number of literary charities, will tour the Byron museum and learn about the Romantic poet’s life in Italy, and will also attend a reception for local book clubs, libraries, book shops and representatives from her Reading Room book club.
In Ravenna’s town hall, the King and Queen will attend a reception marking the 80th anniversary of the province’s liberation from Nazi occupation by Allied forces during the Second World War, which featured British and Canadian troops.
The couple’s tour of Italy will end when they visit Ravenna’s market in the Piazza del Popolo and meet local producers and organisations.
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