King Charles and Queen Camilla are to host actor Stanley Tucci at a formal dinner on Friday evening to mark the confirmation of a state visit to Italy later this year.

To celebrate King Charles and Queen Camilla's upcoming visit to Italy, which will coincide with their wedding anniversary in April, they hosted a dinner inspired by Italian-American actor Stanley Tucci.

The dinner has been in the works for nearly two years, according to Tucci’s recently released memoir. In his memoir, What I Ate in One Year, Tucci details his year of eating in 2023—which included filming the Oscar-nominated film Conclave in Italy. A few passages, however, discuss this dinner for King Charles.

The UK-Italy dinner, hosted by the King and Queen at their Highgrove estate in Gloucestershire, and with the Italian ambassador to the UK, Inigo Lambertini, is a celebration of "slow food", which uses fresh local food and traditional cooking methods.

King Charles mixes ‘great’ martini as Stanley Tucci watches on at Italian-inspired dinner - The menu has been created by renowned Italian chef Francesco Mazzei and inspired by Tucci, who fronted the TV series Tucci – The Heart Of Italy.

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King Charles III and Queen Camilla hosted Stanley Tucci, Helen Mirren and more for an Italian-inspired meal ahead of their state visit to Italy

The King and Queen are set to host Hollywood star Stanley Tucci for a black tie dinner to celebrate Italian cuisine at Highgrove on Friday evening. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.