After the monarchs arrived in Rome this Tuesday to begin their state visit to Italy, where they held a meeting with the Spanish community, Philip and Letizia officially received. The country’s president Sergio Mattarella and his daughter Laura, who serves as first lady, welcomed them to the Quirinal Palace.
© HM King’s House
© GTRESFor this date, the Queen opted for a pale pink tweed suit with a jacket with original puffed sleeves and centerpiece embroidery and a straight skirt. Both the bag and the slingback shoes matched the tone. Laura Mattarella chose a dress in a bright pink and a burgundy cape.
© GTRES
© GTRES
© GTRESThe Quirinal Palace is a hilltop historic building in Rome and is one of the three official residences of the country’s president, as well as one of the symbols of the Italian state. It has over 1,200 rooms and is surrounded by four hectares of gardens. It is the sixth largest palace in the world in terms of surface area and houses a diverse artistic collection of tapestries, paintings, sculptures, cars, clocks, furniture and porcelain.
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© GTRESFrom there they moved to the Monument to Victor Manuel II, also known as the Altar of the Homeland, where the monarchs would lay flowers at the Unknown Soldier. A lunch at the Casino del Bel Respiro, located in the Villa Doria Pamphili, with the President of the Council of Ministers, Giorgia Meloni, will close the morning’s events. This place is the most unknown to most travelers to Rome because, along with the Villa Borghese, it is one of the most beautiful parks in the Eternal City. It is located in the Gianicolense neighborhood, just outside the walls, and houses the headquarters of the Presidency of the Council of State. Prince Camillo Pamphili built it in 1644 to display his collection of ancient statues.
© GTRES
© GTRES
© GTRES
© GTRESIn the afternoon, the monarchs will visit the Senate and Montessitorio Palace, where the Chamber of Deputies is headquartered and where Philip VI will address parliamentarians. After that, the king will go to Rome’s city hall to meet his mayor and at 8:00 p.m. a great event of the trip will happen: the gala dinner given by the Italian president to the kings and where Don Felipe. Address a few words to the guests.
© HM King’s House
© HM King’s House
© HM King’s House
© HM King’s HouseFrom Rome to Naples
The trip will conclude on Thursday with a visit to the Cardinal Gallery at Colonna Palace where the King will preside over a business forum, and the Queen will visit the FAO headquarters. Subsequently, the monarchs will travel to Naples, where the sovereign will be awarded an honorary doctorate by the Federico II University of Naples, coinciding with the 8th centenary of its foundation, which will conclude this state visit.
This is the second time that Don Felipe and Dona Letizia will be in Rome. In November 2014, a few months after the King’s announcement, they visited the transalpine country, their first official destination.
Since 2015, when the Italian president was elected President of the Republic, his daughter has served as Italy’s First Lady, since Mattarella’s wife, Marisa Chiazesi, died of cancer in 2012.
