Harry Styles is finally opening up about why he was at the Vatican for Pope Leo XIV‘s 2025 conclave election.
In May, Styles was spotted by fans in Saint Peter’s Square in the Vatican in photos circulating online. The Hollywood Reporter later confirmed he was in attendance. Now, seven months later, the Grammy winner has addressed the moment, recently telling BBC Radio 1 and when the topic came up, he mentioned how he ended up witnessing the historic event — and revealed it wasn’t intentional.
“I was getting a haircut in Rome,” Styles said. “I heard all these people start shouting, ‘Habemus papam! Habemus papam!’ People are just running down the street. So the guy cutting my hair stopped cutting my hair, and he was like, ‘Habemus papam! There’s a new pope!’”
The “Watermelon Sugar” singer continued, “So then he finished up, and I was like, ‘I’m a five-minute walk from there,’ so I walked over there. It was wild.”
The moment came shortly after Pope Francis’ death in April 2025 at the age of 88, Catholic cardinals elected the first U.S. pope, Chicago-born missionary Robert Prevost, to lead the Catholic Church as its 267th pontiff.
After Styles’ two-year-long Love On Tour concluded in 2023, the singer stepped back from music and the public eye. In the past year, while traveling, Styles has been seen participating in a marathon in Tokyo in March and joining a London run club last April.
Now, Styles is ready to return to music. Earlier this month, it was announced that he will release his fourth solo album, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally on March 6. He’s also set for the Together, Together tour, which kicks off May 16 in Amsterdam and wrapping Dec. 13 in Sydney, Australia.
