It is thought Prince Harry, who is in the UK next week, may attend the service, but it is not known if Prince William will go
The Duchess of Kent has died aged 92, Buckingham Palace announces
The Duchess of Kent’s funeral will take place at Westminster Cathedral on Tuesday, Buckingham Palace have announced.
King Charles, 78, and Queen Camilla, also 78, are set to be joined at the private service by other members of the royal family, as well as the duchess’s close family, friends, and representatives of her charities and regimental affiliations.
It is thought non-working royals, including Prince Andrew, will be among the mourners, and Prince Harry who is due to be in the UK next week for a number of public engagements, may also attend.
It will be the first royal Catholic funeral in modern history and the first royal funeral held at Westminster Cathedral since its construction in 1903. The duchess’ special military relationships will be reflected in aspects of the ceremony, which will start at 2pm.
Ahead of the funeral, which will be officiated by The Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, her coffin will rest in the private chapel at Kensington Palace.
It will be taken by hearse to Westminster Cathedral on Monday where the Rite of Reception and Vespers will take place before resting overnight in the Lady Chapel. After the funeral, the coffin will be taken by hearse to the Royal Burial Ground at Frogmore, Windsor.
In 1994, the duchess, who preferred to be known as plain Katharine Kent, became the first royal to convert to Catholicism since the Act of Settlement of 1701.
And in 2002 she relinquished her royal duties and her HRH title after asking the late Queen for permission to withdraw from public life following a string of tragedies, including the loss of two babies and a period of depression, for which she was hospitalised.
She was a concert-standard pianist who, when she withdrew from public duties, taught anonymously at a state primary school in Hull, east Yorkshire, for 13 years.
The duchess, who was born Katharine Worsley and famously comforted Czech tennis player Jana Navotna after she lost the ladies’ singles final at Wimbledon in 1993, was the wife of the Duke of Kent, 89.
He is a grandson of King George V and a first cousin to Queen Elizabeth, and the pair have three children together George, Earl of St Andrews, Lady Helen, and Lord Nicholas Windsor.
While the pair reportedly lived separate lives for many years, they never divorced and were still living happily together when the duchess died peacefully at her home at Kensington Palace, aged 92, on Thursday night.
Her cause of death was not given, but sources said she had been unwell for “some time”.
