Hello, royal watchers. This is your regular dose of royal news and analysis. Reading this online? Sign up here to get this delivered to your inbox. As King Charles made a historic address to a joint session of Italy's parliament the other day, he talked of that country's past, present and future, and its ties to the United Kingdom. He nodded to the poets Virgil and Dante, spoke of the "wonders of the Renaissance" and welcomed the way British and Italian business leaders are working together to cut emissions and tackle the loss of biodiversity as the world faces the "urgency of the climate challenge." But amid his praise for Italy, there was a noteworthy moment when Charles drew attention to another country and his connection to it. "Tomorrow in Ravenna, as King of the United Kingdom and of Canada, I will have the great honour of commemorating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of that province ... in which British and Canadian forces played a key role," he said. During a reception organized by the U.K. and Italy in Ravenna the next day, Charles met a delegation of 26 Canadians — mainly military personnel and their spouses — who are posted in Italy. They were led by Canada's ambassador to Italy, Elissa Golberg. Such attention to Canada from the King stands out, coming as it does after those who watch him closely were seeing an increase in signals and royal symbolism in support of the country as it faced repeated taunts from U.S. President Donald Trump about becoming the 51st state. Such rhetoric from Trump has faded of late — although the White House press secretary says his position hasn't shifted — but a monarch making such a reference in an international, non-Commonwealth setting to his role as "King of Canada" is rare and has few if any parallels in recent royal times. "I think this was a deliberately chosen moment for the King to be able to make this statement and to be able to show the support [for Canada] in a more direct way than wearing a red tie," royal historian Justin Vovk said in an interview. "That is a really big step for the sovereign to take and a surprisingly explicit show of support that we are not used to seeing." The Canadian flag hangs in Ravenna's town hall. The commemoration there of the role Canadian troops played alongside British forces in liberating that part of Italy in 1944 also caught the attention of the British media. "The King is head of state of Canada — and he has been at pains to send symbolic signs of support to Canada, at a time when it has been put under pressure by U.S. President Donald Trump," the BBC reported. Charles is the first British sovereign to address a joint session of the Italian parliament. His reference during that speech to his role as "King of Canada" was "highly unusual" and a "very powerful signal for the King to be sending to Canada and Canadians that he takes his role very seriously," said Vovk, who is on the advisory board of the Institute for the Study of the Crown in Canada. Vovk said it's also a way of strengthening ties between Canada and Europe right now. "It's a way of reminding Italy and the European community that Canada is our friend, is our ally, Canada stands with us on a lot of the issues that are important to us, particularly support for Ukraine that was talked about in this visit and that Europe should consider itself a friend to Canada." The visit to Ravenna came on the final day of a jam-packed four-day official state visit for King Charles and Queen Camilla that included private time with Pope Francis. A more formal audience with the Pope had been put off because of his ongoing recovery from illness. The state visit, which drew crowds in both Rome and Ravenna, was "very much aligned" with Charles's values and interests, Vovk said, noting, for example art, culture, Renaissance history and the history of literature. "This is one of these moments where the King is able to still undertake his constitutional responsibility in a state visit while at the same time personalizing it in a way that is not often accorded to the sovereign on these sorts of occasions." Attention also focused on Charles and Camilla's 20th wedding anniversary on April 9, complete with a quip from the King to President Sergio Mattarella at the state dinner, thanking him for laying on "this small, romantic, candle-lit dinner for two." Visits such as this are at the behest of the U.K. Foreign Office, and Charles's Italian sojourn follows other European outings earlier in his reign to Germany and France. "It seems pretty clear to me that they are wanting to really shore up these relations with the European Union, with the powerhouses in the EU, and to establish a degree of European solidarity in light of the political and economic uncertainty that is really facing the world right now," Vovk said. And that could be a part of an underlying overall theme or intent of the visit. "We can boil it down to one message: It would be strong relationships. Strong European relationships, strong global relationships, including Canada in that, strong political relationships between Great Britain and Italy, and strong personal relationships for the Royal Family — the King and Queen celebrating their anniversary," Vovk said. The visit, he said, was an opportunity for Charles to show the monarchy doing what it is supposed to do. "There is such a narrative right now around the world of division and hostility, and the Crown offers a unique mechanism to build relationships and dialogues between peoples that are not based on political parties." Another Canadian patronage for Sophie Speaking of relationships between the Royal Family and Canada, there's a new one for Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh. King Charles's sister-in-law has become royal patron of Spruce Meadows, a show-jumping venue in Calgary. The patronage "is a bit of a prestige thing," Linda Southern-Heathcott, the president and chief executive of Spruce Meadows, told The Canadian Press. "It is an endorsement for what we're doing," Southern-Heathcott said. "She will work together with us on raising awareness of Spruce Meadows and highlighting what we're doing and also for our foundation." The Spruce Meadows patronage is the latest Canadian connection for Sophie, who has been patron of Toronto General and Toronto Western hospitals since 2005. She is also colonel-in-chief of the South Alberta Light Horse and the Lincoln and Welland Regiment in Ontario's Niagara Region. Sophie's Spruce Meadows patronage is "another way of building the relationship between the monarchy and Canada that isn't political," Vovk said. It also focuses on a long-standing interest of the Royal Family. "It really reinforces how important the role of sports and athletics is to the Royal Family and how useful athletics can be, like the monarchy, to create dialogue, to have people interact in ways that are not political," Vovk said. Southern-Heathcott told The Canadian Press that Spruce Meadows has issued an invitation for Sophie to join them later this year. Spruce Meadows isn't the only new patronage for Sophie that's been announced in recent days. She has also just become patron in the U.K. for the Yellow Labrador Club, a role that had been held by the late Queen Elizabeth and her father, King George VI. A prince as a sports pundit After Prince William picked up the mic and offered his thoughts on the soccer club he has avidly supported for years, those who do sports commentary for a living got a little nervous. "Do not go for a punditry job, please, because I could be out of the game," quipped TNT Sports host and retired pro Rio Ferdinand. "The way he just dissected that there, I'm going to nick that for later on." William spoke with ease about Aston Villa when the team was across the English Channel taking on Paris Saint-Germain on its home turf. William's punditry was widely praised and offered a less typical view of the 42-year-old heir to the throne. "I think what surprised a lot of people [was] how well he did without a script, how natural he was," Vovk said. "And this was an opportunity for him to really let his own personality come through and just be relatable in a way that the protocol of royal events does not always allow." The Aston Villa appearance was also a father-son outing, with 11-year-old Prince George along for the match. "I think it just really helped to remind people that, like millions and millions of families around the world, the Wales and the Royal Family at large are sports fans. They play sports with their kids. They watch it with their kids. They're involved in it," Vovk said. William also spoke of having George with him for the high-profile, high-tension match that was part of the UEFA Champions League competition. "I have got my son here ... so I am on best behaviour as well, but I thought, you know, it's been 43 years since anything like this has happened in my generation as a Villa fan, and I want George to experience a night out away from home in a big European competition," William said. "Those memories are really important to create, and bringing him along tonight is a big deal for me." In all this, there could also be a reflection of how Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, are trying to raise their children. "I think there's also an important note here from the Wales where they are trying to parent George differently than what's been done in the past," Vovk said. "William is for all intents and purposes the most hands-on Prince of Wales to be a father that we have ever seen, and there seems to be an initiative here to allow George to have these father-son experiences over things that they can bond about that aren't related to duty and responsibility." As much as William won plaudits for his punditry, his prediction of the outcome of the game in Paris was off, and Villa lost. But he and George were back in the stands a few days later as the teams met again on Villa's home turf in Birmingham. Royally quotable "I find it a very spiritual and very intense emotional reconnection I suppose, these environments." — Catherine, Princess of Wales, in a short film she appears in with Dwayne Fields, chief scout of the Scout organization in the United Kingdom. In the film, they discuss the importance of the natural world and its ability to support health and well-being. Royal reads King Charles presented commemorative coins to 152 people at a traditional Maundy Thursday service, held this year at Durham Cathedral, as part of royal Easter celebrations. While the Royal Family generally gathers at Windsor Castle for Easter, the Prince and Princess of Wales are expected to stay instead with their children at their home in Norfolk, northeast of London. [BBC, Daily Mail] Queen Camilla says that King Charles "loves his work and it keeps him going" and that as his health is "getting better ... now he wants to do more and more." [BBC] Prince Harry's lawyer warned his "life is at stake" over changes to his security after he stepped down from royal duties, as the prince returned to London's Royal Courts of Justice for his appeal about changes to his protection in Britain. [CBC] Harry met with war victims in an unannounced visit to Ukraine as part of his ongoing work with wounded veterans, a spokesperson said. [ITV] Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, revealed she suffered with a "rare" and "scary" health condition after childbirth on the first episode of her new podcast. [ITV] Queen Elizabeth II's private solicitor spent eight years helping to manage the offshore wealth of the uncle of the recently deposed Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, an investigation has established. [The Guardian] In news involving other royal families and monarchies, a Belgian prince has lost a legal battle to claim social security benefits on top of his six-figure royal allowance. And in Thailand, a prominent American academic has been detained after being charged with insulting the monarchy, a rare case in which a foreign national has fallen foul of the country's strict lese-majesty law. [The Independent, The Guardian.] Sign up here to have The Royal Fascinator newsletter land in your inbox every other Friday. I'm always happy to hear from you. Send your questions, ideas, comments, feedback and notes to royalfascinator@cbc.ca. Problems with the newsletter? Please let me know about any typos, errors or glitches. Get the news you need without restrictions. Download our free CBC News App.