THE Queen met Pope Francis for the first time on Wednesday.

During a one-day visit to Rome, she had a private meeting with the Pontiff, during which presents were exchanged. She gave the Pope a hamper of British goods, including honey from Buckingham Palace and a bottle of Balmoral whisky. He gave her a lapis lazuli orb for Prince George, adorned with the cross of St Edward the Confessor.

The Queen suggested that her her eight-month-old grandson would be "thrilled by that . . . when he is a little older."