Pope Francis has held a private audience at the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta with Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla, expressing his best wishes for their wedding anniversary.

They met on their 20th wedding anniversary and the four-year anniversary of the death of the King's father, Philip of Edinburgh, Vatican News reports.

The meeting took place on March 9 at the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta, where the Pope has been convalescing for over two weeks after being released from Gemelli Hospital, and where he has recently resumed various meetings.

"Pope Francis met privately with Their Majesties, King Charles and Queen Camilla, this afternoon," the Holy See's Press Office said in a statement.

"The Pope expressed his best wishes to Their Majesties on the occasion of their wedding anniversary and reciprocated His Majesty's wishes for a speedy recovery of his health."

The Pope's wishes were a reference to the King's condition, following his hospitalisation at the end of March due to the side effects of treatment for cancer diagnosed a year ago.

King Charles III is not only the Sovereign of the United Kingdom (and 14 other commonwealth realms), but he is also the Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

An official meeting with the Pope had been announced by Buckingham Palace at the beginning of March, during Pope Francis's hospitalization due to bilateral pneumonia.

The initial announcement explained that the royals would spend the first segment of their trip to Italy to celebrate the Jubilee with the Pontiff at the Vatican.

The King and Queen were able to express their best wishes in person during their audience on Wednesday afternoon.

A post on The Royal Family account on X Thursday morning noted, "the King and Queen were deeply touched by The Pope's kind remarks about their 20th wedding anniversary and honoured to be able to share their best wishes to him in person."

During their three-day visit to Rome, the British monarchs met with the President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

On March 9, King Charles also became the first British Monarch to address the assembled Italian Houses of Parliament in Montecitorio.

King Charles III is not only the Sovereign of the United Kingdom (and 14 other commonwealth realms) but is also the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, a position the British monarch has had since the times of the Reformation..

In 2019, on the eve of the canonisation of Cardinal John Henry Newman, the first Briton in over 40 years to be proclaimed a saint, the then-Prince of Wales published an article in L'Osservatore Romano, calling the event "a cause of celebration not merely in the United Kingdom, and not merely for Catholics, but for all who cherish the values by which he was inspired."

The future king was later present for the canonisation ceremony at the Vatican on Oct. 13, 2019, and he later greeted Pope Francis.