The Duchess of Kent’s funeral will take place at Westminster Cathedral on 16 September, Buckingham Palace has announced.
It will be the first Catholic funeral for a royal in modern British history.
King Charles, head of the Church of England, has been confirmed to attend.
The Duchess, born Katharine Worsley, was the wife of the late Queen’s cousin, the Duke of Kent.
She died peacefully at home on Thursday night, aged 92.
Her coffin will rest in the private chapel at Kensington Palace before the service.
It is with deep sorrow that Buckingham Palace announces the death of Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Kent.
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) September 5, 2025
Her Royal Highness passed away peacefully last night at Kensington Palace, surrounded by her family.
The King and Queen and all Members of The Royal Family join The Duke… pic.twitter.com/OsCeb3pQ7d
It will then be taken by hearse to Westminster Cathedral on the eve of the requiem mass.
Funeral rites – including the Rite of Reception, which usually involves the coffin being sprinkled with holy water, and evening prayers known as Vespers – will be taken by Bishop James Curry, Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster and Titular Bishop of Ramsbury.
The coffin will rest overnight in the Lady Chapel. The following day, the King and Queen and members of the royal family will join the Duke of Kent and members of the duchess’s family for the funeral service from 2pm.
The requiem mass will be led by the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster.
Afterwards, the duchess’s coffin will be taken by hearse to the Royal Burial Ground at Frogmore, Windsor.
A devout follower of the Roman Catholic faith, the duchess became the first member of the royal family to convert to Catholicism in more than 300 years, doing so in 1994.
It was her wish to have her funeral at Westminster Cathedral. Hers will be the first royal funeral at the cathedral since its construction in 1903.
The King will not be the first monarch to have attended a Catholic funeral, as Queen Elizabeth II attended the Catholic state funeral of King Baudouin of Belgium at St Michael’s Cathedral in Brussels, in August 1993.
Charles, as Prince of Wales, went to Pope John Paul II’s funeral, representing his mother, the late Queen, in 2005.
His son William attended Pope Francis’s funeral mass earlier this year.
