Camille Naredo

Britain's King Charles III looks on as he prepares to deliver a speech at the Italian Parliament, in Rome, on April 9, 2025, as part of a State visit in Italy. Ian Vogler, AFP

Britain's King Charles III looks on as he prepares to deliver a speech at the Italian Parliament, in Rome, on April 9, 2025, as part of a State visit in Italy. King Charles III warned on April 9, 2025 that peace can never be taken for granted and hailed Italy for standing by Ukraine, as he made a historic address to parliament in Rome. (Photo by Ian Vogler / POOL / AFP)

Article (news)

King Charles

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1744215436953AFP__20250409__39PX7PN__v1__Preview__ItalyBritainRoyalsVisit.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Britain&#x27;s King Charles III looks on as he prepares to deliver a speech at the Italian Parliament, in Rome, on April 9, 2025, as part of a State visit in Italy. Ian Vogler, AFP"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Britain&#x27;s King Charles III looks on as he prepares to deliver a speech at the Italian Parliament, in Rome, on April 9, 2025, as part of a State visit in Italy. <em>Ian Vogler, AFP</em></span></span></span></div><p>ROME, Italy -- Britain&#x27;s King Charles III told Italy&#x27;s parliament Wednesday that peace is &quot;never to be taken for granted,&quot; saluting shared values and a history of sacrifice between the two countries in a historic address.</p><p>The king&#x27;s speech, the first by a UK monarch to a joint session of Italy&#x27;s two legislative chambers, came as he celebrated his 20th wedding anniversary with wife Camilla during a state visit to Italy.</p><p>Speaking in both Italian and English, the 76-year-old monarch, who is recovering from cancer, eulogized Italy as a place &quot;very dear to my heart&quot;, having made 18 official visits in over 40 years.</p><p>Variously citing Virgil, Dante, and Italy&#x27;s reunification hero Giuseppe Garibaldi, he called it &quot;one of the pleasures of my life to come to know this irresistible country&quot;, as he addressed the Chamber of Deputies packed with parliamentarians.</p><p>Although Britain had many differences with Italy, their shared values were seen in countless courageous acts during World War Two, he said.</p><p>Charles cited the tens of thousands of Commonwealth soldiers who died during the liberation of Italy from the Nazis, while noting the help offered by Italian civilians, risking their lives.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/2/6/uk-s-king-charles-iii-to-visit-vatican-in-april-0621">READ: UK&#x27;s King Charles III to visit Vatican in April</a></div><p>&quot;Today, sadly, the echoes of those times -- which we fervently hoped had been consigned to history -- reverberate across our continent,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;Our younger generations can now see in the news every day on their smartphones and tablets that peace is never to be taken for granted.&quot;</p><p>He noted Italy&#x27;s support today for Ukraine, adding: &quot;Britain and Italy stand today united in defense of the democratic values we share.&quot;</p><p>Speaking on the environment, a personal passion, the king noted that warnings he gave while addressing a parliamentary meeting in Rome 16 years ago were &quot;depressingly being borne out by events&quot;.</p><p>&quot;From the droughts in Sicily to the floods in Somerset, both our countries are already seeing the ever more damaging effects of climate change,&quot; he said.</p><p>Parliamentarians gave Charles a standing ovation when he mentioned a tribute his mother, Queen Elizabeth, gave in Italy in 1992 to murdered anti-mafia judge Giovanni Falcone.</p><p>He elicited laughter when he reminded his audience that Garibaldi had a British biscuit named after him -- &quot;the ultimate mark of British esteem&quot;.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2024/12/25/cancer-hit-uk-king-hails-doctors-in-christmas-speech-0205">READ: Cancer-hit UK king hails doctors in Christmas speech</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>- &#x27;How impressive is a king?&#x27; -</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IXj-8Qmvc1Y?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>Earlier Wednesday, Charles had a short private meeting with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the leader of Italy&#x27;s hard-right government, within the historic Villa Doria Pamphili surrounded by gardens.</p><p>The king was then whisked in his Bentley to Rome&#x27;s working-class neighborhood of Testaccio, with its converted slaughterhouses now holding cultural events.</p><p>There, he met with drama students who performed a portion of Shakespeare&#x27;s &quot;Othello&quot; in Italian with a famous alumnus of the school, &quot;Inspector Montalbano&quot; actor Luca Zingaretti, in attendance.</p><p>A few dozen curious residents milled about outside, but most appeared nonplussed, such as Carlotta, a 70-year-old woman who declined to give her last name.</p><p>&quot;I don&#x27;t give a damn about the king but they&#x27;ve spent three days cleaning the neighborhood, scrubbing the pavements, clearing up dog poo, so he can come every week if he likes,&quot; she told AFP.</p><p>Another woman, 66-year-old Ninetta, quipped: &quot;Rome has seen emperors, how impressive is a king? I couldn&#x27;t care less.&quot;</p><p>Benedetta Ciarlo, 21, was more enthusiastic, having travelled on purpose from Benevento near Naples just to see the king.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m a massive fan of all things royal. My favorite royal used to be Prince Philip, now it&#x27;s Charles,&quot; she said, adding that she appreciated his concern for young people and the future of the planet.</p><p>Camilla, meanwhile, spent her morning visiting school children learning English, and  was presented with a pizza Margherita -- named in the 19th century for another queen, Margherita of Savoy.</p><p>A stunned pizza delivery woman, Federica Viola, said it was &quot;surreal&quot; when she arrived and saw the queen.</p><p>&quot;They ordered a pizza and I didn&#x27;t understand why, then I figured it out and it was for the queen so it was a huge emotion,&quot; she told AFP.</p><p>The royals&#x27; four-day trip, which included a visit to the Colosseum on Tuesday and on Thursday sees them heading north to Ravenna, comes less than a fortnight after Charles&#x27; latest health scare.</p><p>He was briefly admitted to hospital after experiencing side effects from his cancer treatment.</p><p>A state banquet is planned Wednesday night at the Quirinale, the home of Italy&#x27;s president, Sergio Mattarella, who is expected to give a toast to mark the royal&#x27;s anniversary.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>Britain's King Charles III told Italy's parliament Wednesday that peace is "never to be taken for granted," saluting shared values and a history of sacrifice between the two countries in a historic address.</p>

Britain's King Charles III told Italy's parliament Wednesday that peace is "never to be taken for granted," saluting shared values and a history of sacrifice between the two countries in a historic address.

King Charles recalls history, shared values in address to Italian parliament

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King Charles recalls history, shared values in address to Italian parliament

Agence France-Presse,

Ella Ide

Published April 10, 2025 06:21 AM PHT

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Updated April 10, 2025 06:31 AM PHT

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King Charles

Italy

England

Chamber of Deputies

Giuseppe Garibaldi

Royal Family

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