Queen Letizia went on a quick trip to Rome for an important occasion. The Queen of Spain attended an international ceremony hosted in Rome by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to commemorate World Food Day.
As the FAO's special ambassador for nutrition, the Queen served an important purpose and was one of the event's speakers. It marked another meeting between the Queen and Pope Leo XIV.
The event was attended by all manner of notorious figures, including the Pope, the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the King of Lesotho, Letsie III, and more.
The Pope was one of the last figures to arrive, prompting an ovation from other attendees. In photos captured at the event, the Queen is seen wearing a red suit that she matched with a cream colored blouse, a colorful purse, and some heels.
This marks the second public meeting between the Queen and the Pope, who previously met on the Pope's inaugural mass following the death of Pope Francis. On that occasion, Letizia was accompanied by her husband, King Felipe, wearing a primarily white outfit made up of a gown, a veil, and some cream colored heels.
The Queen is one among seven Catholic royals who are allowed to wear white when meeting the Pope, a list rounded out by Spain’s Queen Sofia (mother of Felipe), Belgium’s Queen Paola and Queen Mathilde, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg, Princess Marina of Naples, and Princess Charlene of Monaco.
The Pope's speech about world hunger
In his first FAO meeting commemorating World Food Day, the Pope gave an impassioned speech on the importance of addressing world hunger and how it's one of the most important challenges that the world faces.
“The pope’s heart, which belongs not to himself but to the Church and, in a certain sense, to all humanity, maintains the confidence that, if hunger is defeated, peace will be the fertile ground from which the common good of all nations will be born,” he said.
The Pope spoke in English and Spanish, encouraging nations to collaborate and defeat poverty and hunger all over the world by collaborating “without imposing solutions concocted in distant offices, in meetings dominated by ideologies that frequently ignore ancestral cultures, religious traditions, or customs deeply rooted in the wisdom of the elders.”