On Tuesday afternoon, several members of the royal family attended the historic funeral service for Katharine, the Duchess of Kent, who died on Sept. 4. Duchess Katharine as laid to rest in the first royal Catholic funeral in recent history, at Westminster Cathedral,
After the Requiem Mass, members of the royal family gathered on the steps outside the Cathedral as the late royal's coffin was moved to a hearse to be transported to the Royal Burial Ground at Frogmore, Windsor.
Among the royals gathered after the mass were King Charles and Kate Middleton, who shared a tender moment while saying goodbye just before the King's car picked him up to leave the somber event.
Cameras captured the sweet, emotional moment, when the Princess of Wales gave her father-in-law a kiss on the cheek and kept a comforting hand on his shoulder while quickly curtsying.
King Charles has always had a warm and loving relationship with Kate, who he called his "beloved daughter-in-law" while sharing the story of her 2010 engagement to his oldest son, Prince William, during a 2023 visit to Kenya.
In 2024, royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith spoke to People about Charles and Kate's relationship, saying they're "quite close" and have "always had a very good bond," and even adding that Kate is “in some respects closer to [the King] than William.”
"I don’t think it is presumptuous to say that she is like the daughter he never had," Smith added. "He shares with William an impulse to protect her. They are in this together, Kate and the King."
Charles and Kate's bond was also strengthened last year when they both received cancer diagnoses and underwent treatment at the same time.
The experience bonded them further as "two patients going through a common health experience," a royal source told People, adding that they "are bound to have a close connection… I imagine there was some comfort [for Kate] in seeing… that it was possible to balance some private information without there being an imperative to share all."
Charles also notably broke royal protocol to honor Kate at Trooping the Colour in 2024, inviting her to stand in a place of honor next to him when the royal family stepped out for their annual balcony moment during the celebration.
“It is changing protocol to show the King and Kate united with each other and going through similar battles, so I would say this is down to the King’s preference," former royal butler Grant Harrold told OK!. “It is the balcony [line-up] is orchestrated, so I have a feeling the King said to Kate, ‘You stand next to me.’”
The King was no doubt grateful for the extra show of support from Kate at the funeral service, which his wife, Queen Camilla, had to skip as she recovered from a bout of acute sinusitis.
