Queen Elizabeth II met five different popes during her lifetime.
Ascending to the throne in 1952, Queen Elizabeth II met five different popes during her lifetime, they were: Pope Francis in 2014, Pope Benedict XVI in 2010, Pope John Paul II in 1980, 1982 and 2000, Pope John XXIII In 1961 and Pope Pius XII in 1951 . When she met with Pope Francis at the Vatican in April 2014, she gave the pope a food hamper filled with local delicacies and a bottle of Balmoral whiskey — from the same region in Scotland where she died on Thursday. The meeting between Elizabeth and Francis marked the 100th anniversary of the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and the Holy See.
Pope Francis concluded his telegram to the new king by praying for the queen’s soul.
“Commending her noble soul to the merciful goodness of our Heavenly Father, I assure Your Majesty of my prayers that Almighty God will sustain you with his unfailing grace as you now take up your high responsibilities as King. Upon you and all who cherish the memory of your late mother, I invoke an abundance of divine blessings as a pledge of comfort and strength in the Lord,” the pontiff wrote.
