Melania Trump's veil and other details that caught the attention of the meeting between the Pope and the president of the United States
In the middle of a strict protocol, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, and Pope Francis met this Wednesday in the Vatican.
It is the first meeting between two leaders who share a history of disagreements on issues such as climate change or the treatment of immigrants.
The US president was accompanied by her wife Melania, her daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner.
These are some of the details of the meeting that attracted the most attention.
The veil
The American first lady's choice of dress - in particular, her veil - did not go unnoticed by those closely following her during her husband's first international tour as her president.
"Interesting (…) Melania Trump wears her head covered to meet @ Pontifex - but not when she was in Saudi Arabia," tweeted BBC North America editor Jon Sopel
But David Willey, a reporter for the BBC in Rome, was not surprised.
There is a strict protocol that must be followed when meeting the Pope and that the White House followed to the letter.
The Vatican website lays down some rules: modest dress and covered shoulders for those attending a papal audience, especially if it is inside a building.
"It includes everything from lace shawls to black veils," Willey explained.
Traditionally, heads of state and their companions chose to wear black, with one notable exception: a Catholic queen is allowed to wear white.
Of course, there are those who choose to ignore these protocols.
Also "things have become more relaxed in recent years as there are no strict rules on the matter," a Vatican spokesman told Britain's The Daily Telegraph.
Religions
Another detail that drew attention was the doubts about the faith that Melania Trump professes.
Despite the fact that the rules on dress are not strict, as we explained above, the first lady firmly adhered to tradition.
This could be because Melania Trump is believed to be Roman Catholic, after she asked Pope Francis to bless her with a Rosary during her visit.
It should be noted that Ivanka Trump - who also decided not to cover her head in Saudi Arabia - is not Catholic, having converted to Judaism, but she still chose to wear a veil while she was in the Vatican.
But why the veil in Saudi Arabia not and in the Vatican yes?
Foreign officials or presidents' wives are not required to cover their heads when visiting the kingdom. The obligation is only for Saudi citizens.
Gifts
In the traditional exchange of gifts between leaders, Donald Trump gave the Pope a box containing the first edition of five books by Martin Luther King, the American benchmark for civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s.
Francisco, for his part, presented Trump with a copy of the speech he gave on the International Day of Peace in 2017, stamped with his signature.
In addition, he gave her a copy of an encyclical that he published in 2015 in which he talks about the need to protect the environment.
According to journalists present at the meeting, Trump assured that he would read them.
Precisely the environment and climate change are issues that separate Trump from the Pope.
Trump repeatedly expressed his skepticism regarding global warming and the encyclical that Francis gave him caused great controversy among conservative politicians in the US when it was published.
In addition, the Pope gave him this gift days before the White House announces whether the US withdraws from the 2016 Paris climate change agreement, signed by 200 nations of the planet.
The pope's joke
Perhaps one of the most relaxed moments of the meeting came at the end with a joke from Francisco.
The Pope asked Melania Trump, clearly referring to her husband: "Do you feed him, potizza?"
To her surprise, Melania Trump replied, "Yes, delicious."
Potizza is a typical Slovenian dessert, the country of origin of the first American lady.
It is a yeast leavened dough that has various types of filling, although the most common are walnuts, hazelnuts, poppy seeds, cheese and tarragon.
