Buckingham Palace have released new special photographs of the King and Queen to mark their 20th wedding anniversary on Wednesday, taken just hours after they touched down in Italy for the start of their four-day state visit. Charles and Camilla are all smiles in the new pictures, taken outside Villa Wolkonsky, the ambassadors residence where they are staying for the duration of their trip.

April 9 marks two decades since they married in a civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall. They will spend their anniversary conducting engagements in Rome, before attending a glittering state banquet at the Quirinale Palace in the evening. The black tie event will be hosted by Italy’s President Sergio Mattarella and prominent Italian figures will be in attendance.

Hours after landing in Rome, the King and Queen posed for a series of loved-up photographs in the Villa’s grounds to mark their 20th wedding anniversary on Wednesday.

The three images, released by Buckingham Palace on Monday evening, show the royal couple next to the Neronian spur of the Aqua Claudia.

One picture shows the couple arm in arm beaming at the camera, another of Charles affectionately looking at his wife and a third of them with their arms around each other sat on a bench.

Camilla is wearing a white and beige coat dress by Anna Valentine and a Lily of the Valley brooch - a symbol of enduring love.

The couple's visit to Italy, which will conclude on Thursday, April 10, will be carried out on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to strengthen post-Brexit relations between Rome and London.

The visit is also set to also signal once again a major commitment to a full work schedule by the sovereign, who continues to undergo weekly cancer treatment.

Following the pair's royal tour to Australia and Samoa last year, a senior palace official said the King had found the gruelling trip to be a "perfect tonic". They added the pair would resume a full schedule of royal tours in 2025.

The latest visit also comes just one week after the King was hospitalised following side effects from his cancer treatment.