HRH Prince Thomas and his wife, Ms. Emma Henderson, landed in Rome Tuesday afternoon for the start of their honeymoon shortly after publicly announcing their elopement.

The trip comes as somewhat of a surprise to royal watchers as Ms. Henderson had only recently returned from an international book tour promoting her record-breaking bestseller, A Girl Named Alice. (On the tour it was announced this would be the first installment of a five-part book series entitle: The Extraordinary Alice).

Ms. Henderson has described the series as being inspired by a young woman, Alice Yang, who died last year of lymphoma. Ms. Yang's parents attended the London book signing and shook hands with Ms. Henderson. When asked whether they thought their daughter would have enjoyed the novel, Ms. Yang's father responded he believed his daughter "would have loved the ending best of all."

The royal couple had been expected to tour the common wealth on their first holiday; however, Legacy Works, the non-profit foundation founded and run by HRH Prince Thomas, has announced the couple plan to visit several refugee camps along the Italian coast and to discuss potential new program to support local organizations.