King Charles III and Pope Leo XIV began a 500-year dispute when the two men prayed together at a service in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel.
England split from the Catholic Church under Henry VIII in 1534, after the Vatican refused to annul his first marriage. To obtain the divorce he desired, which would allow him to marry Anne Boleyn, Henry founded the Church of England and appointed himself its supreme ruler.
Neither Henry nor any of his predecessors since 1066 ever met the Pope. This was repeated faithfully until the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, who met with four popes but put an end to praying with them.
That all changed Thursday when the two men bowed their heads under the same Michelangelo-frescoed roof in a symbolic gesture aimed at signaling a ceasefire in the centuries-old schism between Anglicanism and Catholicism.
The king, as supreme ruler of the Church of England, joined the 88-year-old pontiff in a prayer for unity and peace, an image meant to represent reconciliation, tolerance and spiritual renewal.
During the ceremony, the Vatican named 76-year-old Charles the first royal brother of St. Paul's Basilica Outside the Walls. At the same time, the Pope was appointed papal brother of St George's Chapel, Windsor, a reciprocal act designed to cement the “friendship of the faiths”.
The two leaders also exchanged high orders of knighthood. The pope was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, while Charles and 88-year-old Queen Camilla were awarded the Vatican Order by Pope Pius IX.
For the palace, the visit was meant to be a statement of moral authority and spiritual leadership, a moment to define the king's reign in terms of unity and faith.
However, the world's attention has been drawn to other issues as the growing Prince Andrew's story overshadowed the royal message.
Days before his Vatican visit, the king's disgraced brother formally renounced his title as Duke of York amid a renewed row over his links to Jeffrey Epstein and growing pressure over his taxpayer-supported lifestyle. Parliament could soon investigate his long-term lease of Royal Lodge, the sprawling house in Windsor where he lives rent-free on a “peppercorn” basis.
Both Andrew and his brother Charles went through high-profile divorces from Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson, respectively. But the significance of their modern schism pales in comparison to Henry VIII's decision to banish his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Although she was allowed to die peacefully—unlike his two later wives, who were executed—Catherine of Aragon was a powerful daughter of the Spanish monarchs. Their alienation and Henry's rejection of the Roman Catholic Church shocked Europe and created a deep and lasting schism.
The visit to the Vatican, rich in symbolism, was intended to portray the current king as a figure of faith and reconciliation. Yet for many watching in Britain, the sight of Charles kneeling at the altar in Rome seemed inevitably linked to the moral vacuum at home, while scandals surrounding his brother loomed over the House of Windsor.
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Fast King Charles escapes Andrew's nightmare to make history with the Pope first appeared on Daily Beast.
