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By CNN Royal Correspondent Max Foster, Olivia Kemp and Billy Stockwell in London

Osservatore Romano/Vatican Media/Handout via Reuters

Big news this week as we received fresh details about King Charles’ upcoming visit to the Vatican, which is currently still on track despite Pope Francis’ ongoing hospital stay.  

We now know the royal trip will see the King and Queen Camilla in Italy from April 7 to 10. It will be a “historic visit” and a “significant step forward in relations between the Catholic Church and the Church of England,” according to Buckingham Palace. 

The timing of the announcement suggests that the Vatican is confident the pope will be out of hospital in the coming weeks. A palace source told CNN they had shared “hopes and prayers that Pope Francis’ health will enable the visit to go ahead.”  

If the trip does proceed as scheduled, Charles will be the first head of state to visit the 88-year-old pontiff since he was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital last month with a “respiratory tract infection,” which was later diagnosed as pneumonia. 

The plan is for the King and Queen to join Pope Francis in celebrating the Holy Year – a Jubilee celebration held once every quarter of a century, with a focus on forgiveness and reconciliation. 

In a later event, the couple will have an audience with the pontiff, before attending a service in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel centered around the theme of “care for creation” – a nod to Francis and Charles’ shared passion for the natural world.  

The meeting with the pontiff will also come as the King and Queen celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary on April 9 (for more on the couple’s forthcoming trip to the Eternal City, head here). 

With that highly anticipated visit on the horizon, Prince William is also making headlines this week with his first official trip to Estonia. 

The Prince of Wales has gone to Estonia to meet UK troops at Tapa Army Base, where the UK’s largest permanent overseas deployment is stationed, to learn more about how NATO is strengthening its eastern flank in light of ongoing global security challenges. 

Chris Jackson/Getty Images

On Thursday he sat down with the President of Estonia, Alar Karis, at the country’s presidential office in Tallinn. Later in the day, the prince visited a school called “Freedom School” to meet Ukrainian teachers displaced by the conflict with Russia. 

It’s a timely visit to one of Russia’s neighbors, with Estonia pledging earlier this week to raise defense spending to at least 5% of the country’s GDP – a significantly greater increase than the UK has committed to.  

The country also vowed to “make Russian military aggression against Estonia unfeasible.”  

After King Charles welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the Sandringham estate in rural Norfolk earlier this month, William’s overseas trip is the latest example of how the British royals are wielding their soft power to signal support for Ukraine and the Baltic states on the global stage. 

King Charles meets his latest prime minister. 

In his role as Canada’s head of state, the King gave a warm welcome to his newest prime minister this week, as Mark Carney was granted an audience by the monarch at Buckingham Palace on Monday. Carney was sworn in as Canada’s new leader last Friday. The King appeared delighted to see Carney, warmly greeting him at the royal residence and saying: "Very good to see you. Congratulations." The visit came amid strained relations between Canada and the US, as President Donald Trump slapped punishing tariffs on Canada’s economy and said the country should become America’s 51st state. Carney’s appearance in Europe was a notable break from tradition, with him opting to head across the Atlantic rather than to the United States for his first foreign trip as the country’s leader. He's a familiar face to many in the United Kingdom, having served as governor of the Bank of England from 2013 to 2020.

Aaron Chown/WPA Pool/Getty Images

King and Queen receive jolly welcome in Northern Ireland. 

King Charles and Queen Camilla received a “jolly welcome” from the people of Belfast on Wednesday during the couple’s annual trip to Northern Ireland, according to Buckingham Palace. The pair met local workers from a range of industries, including the arts and tourism sectors, as well as visiting Commercial Court, one of the city’s most historic areas, known for its colorful umbrellas and statement red benches. Later, the Queen visited a women’s support center in Lisburn, just outside of Belfast, that assists women struggling with issues such as domestic abuse. Meanwhile, the King traveled to a sports hub where he watched rugby, hockey and Gaelic football training in action. Gaelic football, a 15-man ball game, is a central tenet of not only the nation’s sporting identity but its cultural one too, with a storied 140-year history. 

Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

The Princess of Wales radiantly returned to the Irish Guards’ annual St. Patrick’s Day parade on Monday, marking her first solo appearance as colonel of the regiment. Back at London’s Wellington Barracks after missing last year’s festivities amid her health challenges, Catherine was all smiles as she handed out the traditional sprigs of shamrock – not just to the officers, but also to the regiment’s beloved Irish Wolfhound mascot, Seamus, whom she took a moment to affectionately pet. 

Wearing a bottle-green Alexander McQueen coat with her own shamrock pinned to the lapel, Catherine awarded long service and good conduct medals before taking the royal salute during the march past. After posing for photographs, she mingled with veterans and junior cadets from Northern Ireland – known as “Mini Micks.” But it wasn’t just the Irish Wolfhound who got a little extra love. After the formal proceedings, Catherine joined the troops in the junior ranks’ dining hall where she was toasted with three cheers from the guards, who also thanked her for putting money behind the bar. With a half-pint of Guinness in hand, Catherine said: “It’s the least I can do.” 

Dan Mullan/The RFU Collection/Getty Images

In a rare display of rivalry, the Prince and Princess of Wales supported different teams at the Wales vs. England Six Nations rugby game in Cardiff on Saturday. 

While William cheered on Wales as patron of the Welsh Rugby Union, Catherine was rooting for England as patron of the English Rugby Football Union – a role she took over from the Duke of Sussex in 2022. 

Legal documents about Prince Harry’s US immigration records have been released – but don’t expect any major revelations! 

The heavily redacted papers were requested by The Heritage Foundation – a conservative think tank – under the Freedom of Information Act, with the group arguing that “the public has an interest in knowing” whether the duke “was properly vetted prior to or during admission into the United States.” 

Since past drug use can be grounds for visa rejection, the foundation had raised questions about Harry’s admissions of recreational use in his memoir “Spare.”  

One of the filings released Tuesday said: “To release (the duke’s) exact status could subject him to reasonably foreseeable harm in the form of harassment as well as unwanted contact by the media and others.” 

Attorneys for the Heritage Foundation see the case as part of a larger effort to uncover non-compliance with the law by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in different areas. Find out more on this story here.  

Chris Helgren/Reuters

"I was sad to hear about the passing of John 'Paddy' Hemingway this morning, the last of "The Few". We owe so much to Paddy and his generation for our freedoms today. Their bravery and sacrifice will always be remembered. We shall never forget them. W"

– Prince of Wales

William wrote a heartfelt tribute to John “Paddy” Hemingway – the last surviving Battle of Britain pilot who died on Monday at the age of 105. Hemingway defended the British skies against the Nazis in 1940 when he was just 19 and was part of a small group originally dubbed “The Few” by then-British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

CNN’s Lauren Said-Moorhouse contributed to this newsletter.