Pope Francis News: Queen Elizabeth II Meets With Pontiff At Vatican

Queen Elizabeth II has had something of a whirlwind visit to Rome. The Queen of England spent just five hours in Rome, just enough time to dine with the country's President, Giorgio Napolitano and to meet Pope Francis, to whom she gave a box of gifts, which, to the Pontiff's surprise, contained a bottle of scotch. The English sovereign arrived 23 minutes late to the Vatican, for which she apologized saying "My apologies for the tardiness. We were having a very nice luncheon with President Napolitano."

Pope Francis, meanwhile, only gave the queen an audience of 17 minutes. However, he did reciprocate with various gifts. To the Queen, Pope Francis gave a copy of the document with which Pope Innocent XI introduced the the 'Cult of St. Edward the Confessor,' King of England between 1043 and 1066, who also oversaw the building of Westminister Abbey. To the Duke of Edinburgh, the Pope gave a triptych with the Papal Coin. Pope Francis also gave a present to their great-grandson, Prince Jorge.

Unlike the Pope's meeting with Barack Obama, there was no official reception for Queen Elizabeth. The English sovereign's meeting with Pope Francis was the first meeting between the 87-year-old queen, who is Supreme Governor of the Church of England, and Pope Francis, head of the Roman Catholic Church. Elizabeth first visited the Vatican in 1951 while still a princess - Pope Pius was then ruler of the Holy See. She has also met with John Paul II and Benedict XVI.