The Vatican distanced the Pope from plans to give the Prince of Wales a copy of an historic document relating to the divorce of Henry VIII when the pair meet on Monday. Although the publishing house linked to the Vatican archives confirmed today that it hoped to present Prince Charles with the item, the Vatican said that it would not be an official gift from the pontiff.
Scrinium, which promotes the historic and cultural wealth of the Vatican, including its archives, said that it wished to present the Prince “with the facsimile of the 1530 appeal by English peers to Pope Clement VII asking for the annulment of Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon”.
A spokesman for the Pope said that the Vatican “unreservedly and unambiguously” denied that the reproduction would be given to the Prince and the Duchess of Cornwall by Pope Benedict XVI, saying this had "no basis in fact".
It is not clear what gift the Vatican has in mind when the Prince presents his second wife to the pontiff on Monday.
Although it might have been seen as a gesture towards healing the schism between Rome and the Church of England, of which the Prince will be head when he becomes king, the document could also be interpreted as an embarrassment to the royal visitors.
The Prince is the first senior member of the Royal Family to marry a divorcée since 1936 and it will be his first meeting with a Pope since his divorce in 1996.
The document is an appeal to Pope Clement VII on the behalf of Henry VIII, bearing the 85 red wax seals of English peers, and is a key document in the history of the Reformation.
The official guide to the archives says that “whatever the remote cause of the Anglican schism, there is no doubt that the most immediate and determining cause was Henry VIII’s wish to get rid of his legitimate wife, Catherine of Aragon”.
The marriage was declared indissoluble by the Pope but Henry married Anne Boleyn and declared the separation of the Church of England from the Church of Rome.
It took Scrinium three and a half years to make a copy of the original document. It will be displayed officially next month with other reproductions including Dante’s Divine Comedy with illustrations by Botticelli.
The Prince and the Duchess arrive in Italy on Sunday on a working visit. The Prince will address parliamentary deputies and business leaders on climate change.
The royal couple travel to Venice on Tuesday before returning to Britain the following day.
Since 2007 Scrinium has been marketing copies of documents from the archives.
Its facsimile of a 14th-century parchment absolving the Knights Templar of heresy can be bought for €5,900 (£5,250) a copy.
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(Source: TTUK)