The first Catholic royal funeral in British modern history took place for Katharine, the Duchess of Kent on September 16, with many Royal Family members attending to show their love and support for the grieving Duke of Kent. The Duchess was the oldest member of the Royal Family when she died earlier this month at the age of 92.
Katharine was married to Edward, the first cousin of the late Queen Elizabeth II, and the couple had been married for 64 years.
After the 90-minute service, the Duke was helped into a waiting car and took a moment of reflection. Then, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, caught his eye, and asked a sweet, three-word question. The Duchess blew him a kiss and mouthed: “Are you OK?”. Princess Anne also caught his eye and sent him a kiss as well in a kind and thoughtful moment outside Westminster Cathedral.
This is the first Catholic funeral for a member of the Royal Family in modern times and a message from Pope Leo was read out during the service.
The Pope’s message praised the duchess for her “dedication to official duties, patronage of charities and devoted care for vulnerable people” and sent his “heartfelt condolences, together with the assurance of my prayerful closeness” to the King, the Duke of Kent and their family.
Readings at the service were given by the children and grandchildren of the duchess. The duchess had a love of music and had worked as a primary school music teacher, calling herself Mrs Kent, with the pupils not knowing anything about her royal life.
Music at the funeral included Ave Verum Corpus by Mozart, which was selected by the duchess as her favourite piece when she was a guest on the BBC’s Desert Island Discs in 1990.
The duchess has been remembered as a familiar figure at the Wimbledon tennis championships, where she handed over trophies – and consoled those who had lost, including a tearful Jana Novotna in 1993.
After the funeral at Westminster Cathedral, the coffin was taken to the Royal Burial Ground in Frogmore, on the Windsor estate.
The Royal Burial Ground has been a resting place for members of the Royal Family since the consecration of the ground in 1928, and is a short distance from Windsor Castle.
It is also not far from Frogmore House and Frogmore Cottage – the previous home of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
