Buckingham Palace announces which royal will attend Pope Leo's inauguration next week

will represent King Charles at the , Buckingham Palace has announced. The Duke of Edinburgh will travel to the Vatican to attend head of the Catholic Church at a mass in St Peter's Square on May 18.

A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace said: "The Duke of Edinburgh will represent His Majesty at the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV." The new Pope, formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost, from Chicago, became the first North American head of the Catholic Church after he was elected during the secret conclave meeting of cardinals on Thursday. Leo was elected by 133 cardinals from 70 countries in just over 24 hours, giving the Church a pope less than three weeks after the death of his predecessor, Francis.

Buckingham Palace previously said the King had sent a private message congratulating the Pope on his election and passing on his and the Queen's most sincere good wishes for his pontificate.

The King had developed a strong bond with Pope Leo's predecessor, Pope Francis, over the years, and met him in person while in Italy not long before the Church leader's death last month.

The Prince of Wales, a future head of the Church of England, represented his father during Pope Francis's funeral mass in St Peter's Square on April 26.

By attending the inaugural mass next week, Edward will follow in the footsteps of the Duke of Gloucester, who represented his late mother Queen Elizabeth II at the inauguration of Pope Francis on March 19 2013.

The duke's father Prince Philip previously represented the Queen at Pope Benedict XVI's inaugural mass, while Charles, then Prince of Wales, represented his mother at the funeral of Pope John Paul II.

The 267th pope made his first public appearance on the balcony above St Peter's Square on Thursday following the secret conclave meeting of cardinals.

He is set to deliver his first noon blessing from the loggia on Sunday, before attending an audience with the media on Monday in the Vatican auditorium and his first general audience on May 21.