Vatican City: Britain’s King Charles and Pope Leo prayed together in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel on Thursday, in the first joint worship including an English monarch and a Catholic pontiff since King Henry VIII broke away from Rome in 1534.

Latin chants and English prayers echoed through the chapel, where Leo was elected the first US pope by the world’s Catholic cardinals six months ago in front of frescoes by Michelangelo depicting Christ delivering the Last Judgment.

Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III shake hands as they depart from the San Damaso Courtyard in Vatican City. Credit: Getty Images

Charles, supreme governor of the Church of England, was seated at the pope’s left near the altar of the chapel as Leo and Anglican Archbishop Stephen Cottrell led a service that featured t

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