Members of the Royal Family join the celebrations for the new Pope
Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester attend the inauguration of Pope Francis in St Peter’s Basilica
TRH The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester greet Pope Francis. ©L'Osservatore Romano
On Tuesday 19 March, Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester represented Her Majesty The Queen, leading the UK delegation to the Inauguration of Pope Francis. The British government was represented by the Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke QC MP, Cabinet Minister without Portfolio, and the Rt Hon Baroness Warsi, Minister for Faiths.
After the service, Their Royal Highnesses were presented to the Pontiff in St Peter’s Basilica.
On the evening of Monday 18 March, Their Royal Highnesses dined with a number of British Roman Catholic and Anglican church leaders at the ambassador’s residence. These included Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster and Archbishop Emeritus of Glasgow on the Roman Catholic side, and the Anglican Archbishop of York and the Bishops of Guildford and Gibraltar in Europe from the Anglican Communion.