The Duke of Edinburgh will represent the King at the inauguration of the new Pope next weekend, Buckingham Palace has said.
Prince Edward will travel to the Vatican to attend Pope Leo XIV’s formal installation as pope at a mass in St Peter’s Square on 18 May.
The formal inauguration Mass, for the first US pontiff in the 2,000-year history of the Roman Catholic Church, will be held in St Peter’s Square on 18 May, the Vatican announced.
A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace said: “The Duke of Edinburgh will represent His Majesty at the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV.”
Pope Leo XIV has only been in the job one day and already faces a packed schedule of religious services, diplomatic meetings and Holy Year events, many of which were organised for his predecessor, Francis.
After presiding over a Mass with cardinals in the Sistine Chapel on Friday, his next expected public engagement will be a meeting with cardinals on Saturday, followed by midday (1000 GMT) prayers on Sunday from the main balcony of St Peter’s Basilica.
Other early commitments will include taking possession of Rome’s three basilicas – St Paul Outside the Walls on 20 May, and St John Lateran and Santa Maria Maggiore (Saint Mary Major), where Francis is buried, on 25 May.
Before all this, the new pope will meet on 12 May with the thousands of journalists who covered the conclave, and on 16 May, he will hold an audience with diplomats accredited to the Holy See, the world’s smallest independent state.
His first weekly general audience with the faithful is set for 21 May.
Adding to the early workload is the continuation of the 2025 Holy Year, also known as a Jubilee, which traditionally occurs every 25 years, drawing millions of pilgrims to Rome for a continuous stream of events. Leo inherits celebrations for that from Francis, who died on 21 April, aged 88.
Special meetings to celebrate specific groups special to the Church, such as choirs, families and the clergy, are planned from May to the end of the year, including a major youth jubilee from 28 July to 3 August.
One of the highlights of the 2025 Catholic calendar is the canonisation of the first saint of the millennial generation, Carlo Acutis. It was set for 27 April, but had to be postponed because of Francis’ death. A new date has to be fixed.
