Queen Elizabeth departs Rome after first meeting with Pope Francis

Britain''''s Queen Elizabeth II departed Rome Thursday afternoon after a five-hour visit to the Vatican, where she met Pope Francis for the first time. The pope had provided an exceptional welcoming for the queen and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, after which the three sat down over a half-hour meeting - the first since he accepted the papacy over a year ago. Queen Elizabeth, who heads the Church of England, had been unable to attend the Papal coronation due to health concerns, but this time, met the head of the Roman Catholic Church for the sixth time during her reign. Earlier the queen, on her first visit to Rome in 14 years, attended a lunch ceremony in her honour hosted by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano at the presidential Quirinal Palace.