The pilgrimage began with the arrival of Their Royal Highnesses the Duke of Calabria and his son and heir the Duke of Noto, accompanied by senior officers of the Order, in Rome on the evening of the 13th April 2016. That evening a dinner was given in their honour by His Excellency Don Eduardo Gutiérrez Sáenz de Buruaga, Spanish Ambassador to the Holy See and the Order of Malta, at the Embassy of Spain in the Piazza di Spagna.
The following day His Most Eminent Highness Frà Matthew Festing, Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta, received Their Royal Highnesses at the Grand Magistral Palace and invested the Duke of Noto as a Knight of Honour and Devotion in the Order of Malta. The Prince and Grand Master subsequently offered a luncheon for Their Royal Highnesses which was attended by Their Excellencies the Grand Commander, the Grand Hospitaller and the Receiver of the Common Treasure of the Order of Malta, as well as the President of the Italian Royal Commission of the Constantinian Order Duke Don Diego de Vargas Machuca, the President of the British Royal Commission Don Francesco Moncada of the Princes of Paternò, and Marchese Narcisio Salvo di Pietraganzili. Later that afternoon HRH the Duke of Calabria paid a call on Onorevole Dario Franceschini, Minister of Culture of the Republic of Italy.
In the evening a dinner was given at the Palazzo Aldobrandini in honour of the Their Royal Highnesses. Also present at the dinner were the Duke of Calabria’s mother and his sister, Her Royal Highness the Dowager Duchess of Calabria (born Princess Anne of France) and Her Royal Highness Princess Ines of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, who were accompanied by Michele of the Marquesses Carrelli Palombi. Others who attended included Their Excellencies the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain to the Italian Republic, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain to the Holy See, the Ambassador of the Republic of Peru to the Holy See, His Eminence the Most Rev Dario Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, Grand Prior of the Constantinian Order, Ambassador Alfredo Bastianelli, Ambassador Nobile Amadeo De Franchis, N. H. Don Flavio Borghese, of the Princes Borghese, Delegate in Rome of the Constantinian Order, Don Riccardo Paternò, of the Dukes of San Nicola, Count of Montecupo, the Marquess Narcisio Salvo di Pietrazangilli, Count Enzo Capasso Torre delle Pastène (President Emeritus of the Deputation), General of the Guardia di Finanza Francesco Greco, Advocate of the State Mario Antonio Scino (and his spouse), Prince Scipione Borghese and Princess Barbara Massimo Borghese, Don Amadeo Rey y Cabieses (Vice-Grand Auditor), Don Florencio Alvárez Labrador (Secretary General of the Deputation), and Nobile Angelo Federico Arcelli.
On Friday 15th April 2016 Their Royal Highnesses travelled by car to the Royal Palace of Caserta and following their visit were entertained at luncheon by Don Riccardo Paternò of the Dukes of San Nicola, Count of Montecupo. Upon their return to Rome HRH the Duke of Calabria received the Archbishop for the Spanish Armed Forces, HE the Most Rev. Monsignor Santi Marciáno.
That evening a dinner was given in honour of Their Royal Highnesses at the Circolo della Caccia.
On Saturday 16 April 2016 at 11.00 am a Solemn Mass was celebrated at the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, including the passage through the Holy Door. The Mass was celebrated by His Eminence the Most Rev James Michael Cardinal Harvey, Archpriest of the Basilica and Prefect Emeritus of the Pontifical Household, assisted by the Grand Prior of the Constantinian Order, His Eminence the Most Rev Dario Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos.
At the end of the Mass, His Royal Highness Prince Pedro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria, Count of Caserta, Grand Master of the Constantinian Order, presented diplomas appointing or promoting several new Italian knights. Following the ceremony a luncheon took place in the Pope Pius IX Officer s Club of Rome. On Sunday 17 April 2016 at noon there was another Mass, with passage through the Holy Door, celebrated in the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore by His Eminence Gerhard Ludwig Cardinal Müller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and Bailiff Grand Cross of Justice of the Constantinian Order.
Their Royal Highnesses departed from Rome later that evening.
