The 5 poignant details at Duchess of Kent’s funeral | Royal | News

The Duchess of Kent’s coffin has now been moved to Westminster Cathedral to rest overnight ahead of the funeral tomorrow, as more details about the solemn service have emerged.

Katharine’s coffin left Kensington Palace for the final time earlier this evening, travelling three miles to the cathedral, where her immediate family were waiting.

The coffin, constructed from English willow, was draped with the Royal Standard for Other Members of the Royal Family and bore a wreath with flowers carefully selected by her family, as well as a cross and the book of gospels after tonight’s proceedings.

But there were several poignant details and personal touches surrounding the royal’s funeral which have now emerged.

Here, the Express takes a look at five poignant details about the Duchess of Kent’s funeral that royal fans might miss.

On Tuesday afternoon, the King and Queen and members of the Royal Family will join the Duke of Kent and members of the Duchess’s family at a requiem mass.

The mass will be conducted by the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols.

The Dean of Windsor will join the cathedral clergy during the mass, before presiding, with the Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster, over the burial of The Duchess in Windsor later that day.

Meanwhile, a piper from The Royal Dragoon Guards, of which The Duchess of Kent was the Deputy Colonel-in-Chief, will play a lament, titlted “Sleep, Dearie, Sleep”, while processing from the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary, past the coffin in the Nave and down the centre aisle of the cathedral.

It will be the same lament that was played during Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in 2022.

During the requiem mass, the cathedral choir and organist will perform choral music by Maurice Duruflé.

This will include Mozart’s Ave verum corpus, which Katharine selected as her favourite piece during her episode of the BBC’s Desert Island Discs in December 1990.

A devout follower of the Roman Catholic faith, the duchess became the first member of the Royal Family to convert to Catholicism for more than 300 years, doing so in 1994, and it was also her wish to have her funeral at Westminster Cathedral.

The Duchess of Kent’s coffin was a wicker construction made from English willow and was draped with the Royal Standard for Other Members of the Royal Family, which had a white ermine border signifying she was the spouse of a prince.

A large wreath chosen by her family was placed on top of the coffin.

Following tonight’s proceedings, a cross and the book of gospels were placed on top of it.

Katharine’s wreath featured various British garden flowers, including white roses, symbolising the white rose of Yorkshire, where Katharine was born.

Other flowers included sprays of rosemary for remembrance, oak leaves for strength, seasonal September flowers symbolising farewell, achillea representing healing and strength, jasmine for amiability and sprigs of yew from the gardens of Hovingham Hall, the duchess’s childhood home, representing eternal life.

The flowers were chosen by the Duchess’s family.

Tuesday’s funeral will be the first royal funeral at Westminster Cathedral since its construction in 1903.

Katharine became the first member of the Royal Family to convert to Catholicism in more than 300 years.

Her husband, the Duke of Kent, did not convert, so he remained in the line of succession.

It was her wish to have her funeral at Westminster Cathedral, which will be the first royal Catholic funeral at the cathedral in modern British history.

Other monarchs have previously attended requiem masses in Britain, including Queen Victoria and King George V.

Queen Elizabeth II also attended the Catholic state funeral of King Baudouin of the Belgians, at St Michael’s Cathedral in Brussels, in August 1993.