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.

King Charles and Queen Camilla branched out of their regular dining plans for a star-studded event planned by none other than Stanley Tucci. The King and Queen were also joined by the Italian ambassador

Actor enlists leading chef who says he was ‘blown away’ by quality of home-grown products – except the olive oil from Essex

The star-studded visit to Highgrove comes as Buckingham Palace confirmed the King and Queen will tour Italy and the Vatican in early April. | ITV National News

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.