The King and Queen will be received in audience at the Vatican on Friday for the first time in twelve years.

The Diplomat King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia will be received this coming Friday in audience by Leo XIV in the Pope's private library at the Vatican, according to the Royal Household. The last audience of the King and Queen at the Vatican was held in June 2014, where they were received by Pope Francis. King Felipe and Queen Letizia met for the first time with Pope Leo XIV in May 2025, after the Mass inaugurating his Pontificate, where they invited him to visit Spain. Pope Leo XIV will indeed make an apostolic journey to Spain from June 6 to 12, 2026. It will be the first visit by a pope to Spain since 2011, when Benedict XVI attended World Youth Day, and it comes at the official invitation of King Felipe VI and the Spanish Episcopal Conference. The Pope's visit was confirmed on February 25 by the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, who stated that "the itinerary for the trip will be announced in due course," according to the Holy See website. However, it had already been confirmed on January 23 by King Felipe VI himself during the traditional annual reception for the Diplomatic Corps accredited to Spain. "We ask you to convey to the Holy Father the affection with which our country awaits his historic visit," the King told the Vatican Nuncio in Madrid, Archbishop Piero Pioppo. The Pope's visit had also been announced on January 9 by the Cardinal Archbishop of Madrid, José Cobo, after meeting at the Vatican with the Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State of the Holy See, Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, specifically to prepare for Leo XIV's trip to Spain. Sources close to the trip have indicated to several media outlets that the Pope could visit Madrid from June 6 to 9, before traveling to Barcelona, where he could arrive on June 10. Finally, Leo XIV would visit the Canary Islands before returning to Rome on June 12. Protocanon of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome Following the audience on Friday, the King, accompanied by the Queen, will take possession as Protocanon of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome, one of the papal basilicas, which enjoys extraterritorial rights, as established in the Lateran Treaty signed in 1929 between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy, then headed by Victor Emmanuel III. The Basilica of Saint Mary Major has been linked to the Spanish Monarchy since the reign of Charles I in the 16th century, although the Catholic Monarchs had already contributed financially to the embellishment of the site. Consecrated to the Virgin Mary and considered the first church dedicated to her in the West, it became a bridge between the Roman Catholic faith and the Spanish Crown. On October 7, 1647, Pope Innocent X, at the request of King Philip IV, established the so-called Pious Foundation of Santa Maria Maggiore through the Apostolic Constitution Sacri Apostolatus. This agreement stipulated that, in exchange for an annual income to the basilica's chapter, prayers and liturgical acts would be celebrated in honor of the Spanish Crown. Since then, successive Spanish monarchs have been benefactors of the basilica and have contributed to its restoration and improvement. Following the signing of the Concordat with the Holy See in 1953, it was agreed that all Spanish kings would be "Honorary Protocanons" of the Liberian Chapter of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. In 2018, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía last visited the basilica. Juan Carlos I remains Honorary Protocanon of the Basilica, a title he accepted during a trip to Rome in 1977, more than a year after his proclamation as head of state.

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