King Charles III and Queen Camilla have postponed their planned state visit to the Vatican in early April following medical advice from Pope Francis' doctors, Buckingham Palace announced Tuesday.

"Medical advice has now suggested that Pope Francis would benefit from an extended period of rest and recuperation. Their Majesties send the pope their best wishes for his convalescence and look forward to visiting him in The Holy See, once he has recovered," the palace said in a statement.

The UK's head of state had previously written to Pope Francis when the 88-year-old pontiff was hospitalized with pneumonia in both lungs in February, amid fears for his health.

Pope Francis was discharged from Rome's Gemelli hospital on Sunday after almost 40 days of treatment. Since then, he has concelebrated mass at the Santa Marta guesthouse, where he resides, and is undergoing breathing and speech therapy to aid his recovery.

However, the Vatican said he has received no visitors "apart from his closest associates," and no date has been set for his next public appearance.

The postponed visit, originally scheduled for April 8, would have marked Charles’s first visit to the Vatican as monarch. Charles last visited the Holy See in 2019 as heir to the throne.

In a mutual agreement with the Holy See, the state visit has now been delayed. However, the rest of Charles and Camilla's Italian tour, including meetings with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella, is still set to take place.

Charles is also scheduled to become the first British monarch to address a sitting of the Italian parliament, Buckingham Palace confirmed.

Since revealing his cancer diagnosis in February 2024, the 76-year-old monarch has resumed his international travels.

The Church of England, of which Charles is the head, split from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century after Pope Clement VII refused King Henry VIII’s request to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.