Katherine, the Duchess of Kent, passed away at the age of 92. She passed away at home in Kensington Palace Thursday night (9/4), and Buckingham Palace announced her death on Friday. I wondered aloud if the Windsors were going to use some obscure rule to avoid giving the Duchess a formal royal funeral, but it looks like they’re really pulling out all the stops. It will be the first Catholic funeral mass of a member of the British royal family in modern history, apparently. The funeral is scheduled for September 16th.
The funeral of the Duchess of Kent will be held at Westminster Cathedral on 16 September, with the King and Queen among the senior royals who will be in attendance, Buckingham Palace has announced. The duchess, Katharine, died on Thursday aged 92, prompting tributes for her kindness and support for tennis and music – including working as a primary school music teacher.
The duchess was a Catholic and there will be a Requiem Mass for her funeral, which will be the first royal Catholic funeral in the UK in modern history. It will be a private family service, after which the coffin will be taken to the royal burial ground in Frogmore in Windsor.
The duchess, who had been the oldest member of the Royal Family, died in Kensington Palace and her coffin will remain in the chapel there until the evening before the funeral, when she will be brought to Westminster Cathedral. In the Catholic tradition, there will be a service to mark the reception of the coffin into the cathedral, attended by her close family, with the duchess being survived by her husband, the Duke of Kent, and their two sons and a daughter. The coffin will remain in the Lady Chapel overnight, before the funeral the following day.
This first royal funeral at Westminster Cathedral, at 2pm on Tuesday 16 September, will be presided over by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, with the Anglican Dean of Windsor participating, before accompanying the coffin to Frogmore.
I wonder if the family will also want a wake, another Catholic funeral tradition. As you can imagine, too many people are already making the Duchess of Kent’s death all about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Harry is arriving in London soon, or he’s already in the UK at this moment. Will he “stay” for the funeral? I would say… probably not, but there’s already a lot of speculation that he could. The Mirror said that King Charles and Queen Camilla will definitely attend Katherine’s funeral, as will some of the other members of the royal family.
Harry apparently “privately sent his condolences” to the Duchess’s family, his people confirmed to several outlets. There’s no conversation about postponing the WellChild Awards, like they had to do in 2022 when QEII died. Interestingly enough, one of the Duchess’s rare public outings in recent years was to Harry and Meghan’s 2018 wedding. She wore sneakers and seemed especially happy for them. She was very close to Princess Diana. Speaking of, Prince William and Kate paid tribute to her with a statement published on Twitter.
A message from The Prince and Princess of Wales pic.twitter.com/0VPYJr8j4Z
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) September 5, 2025
Photos courtesy of Photoshot/Avalon, Avalon Red and Cover Images.
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- HRH DUCHESS OF KENT With Right) HRH PRINCESS DIANA. (HRH Princess of Wales) (Seen at the 1994 Wimbledon Tennis Championships) COMPULSORY CREDIT: UPPA/Photoshot Photo UGL 007921/A-22 02.07.1994,Image: 502656568, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: World Rights – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries call Photoshot Global HQ – London + 44 (0)20 7421 6000 , also New York Office Tel : + 1 646-429-8731 and Hamburg Office Tel +49 (0)40 530 240 5959, Model Release: no, Credit line: Photoshot/Avalon
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- HRH DUCHESS OF KENT (Seen at Guildhall, for the State Banquet for President Mugabe of Zimbabwe) COMPULSORY CREDIT: UPPA/Photoshot Photo UIW 007764/A-34a 18.05.1994,Image: 502657740, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: World Rights – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries call Photoshot Global HQ – London + 44 (0)20 7421 6000 , also New York Office Tel : + 1 646-429-8731 and Hamburg Office Tel +49 (0)40 530 240 5959, Model Release: no, Credit line: Photoshot/Avalon
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- WEDDING OF HRH PRINCE EDWARD AND SOPHIE RHYS-JONES HRH DUCHESS OF KENT arriving at St George’s Chapel, Windsor for the wedding ceremony. COMPULSORY CREDIT: UPPA/Photoshot Photo UA 016284/E 19.06.1999,Image: 502725887, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: World Rights – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries call Photoshot Global HQ – London + 44 (0)20 7421 6000 , also New York Office Tel : + 1 646-429-8731 and Hamburg Office Tel +49 (0)40 530 240 5959, Model Release: no, Credit line: Photoshot/Avalon
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- 98318, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – Tuesday June 4, 2013. Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Katherine, Duchess of Kent during the 60th Anniversary of the Coronation Service at Westminster Abbey in London. **UK, AUSTRALIA & NZ OUT** **FEE MUST BE AGREED PRIOR TO USAGE** **E-TABLET/IPAD & MOBILE PHONE APP PUBLISHING REQUIRES ADDITIONAL FEES**,Image: 528199198, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS, DIRECT SALES ONLY UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE IN CAPTION – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: i-Images, PacificCoastNews.com/Avalon
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- Katheine Duchess of Kent,Image: 1034408979, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: /Avalon
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- Katheine Duchess of Kent, State dinner at the Mansion House,Image: 1034409561, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: /Avalon
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- North America Sales Only-London, England 04/29/11- Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton 1310697 -PICTURED: Duke of Kent, Duchess of Kent -PHOTO by: Tim Rooke/startraksphoto.com -RF_7743 Startraks Photo New York, NY For licensing please call 212-414-9464 or email sales@startraksphoto.com Featuring: Duke of Kent, Duchess of Kent Where: London, England, Britain When: 29 Apr 2011 Credit: Tim Rooke/startraksphoto.com **North America Sales Only**
Isn’t this one day before the orange buffoon’s scheduled visit?
I hope we bring out the balloon again, and more photos of Vance like they did in the Cotswold 😂
Had to look up a picture of this lady wearing sneakers at Harry’s wedding. She looked totally adorable. She seemed like a sweet person (I could be wrong – never knew anything about her before)
She definitely was. Her mental health suffered over the years, especially after a pregnancy loss. Something she spoke about publicly. By all reports over her decades in public life she was a lovely person.
To add details, she caught rubella when she was pregnant and the risk of birth defects when pregnant with rubella are quite high and so the doctors recommended an abortion which she decided to do.
I am providing these details because not getting your MMR vaccine puts your baby as risk. (She was born before the vaccines existed, although it is unfortunate she did not get one when it was made available- not sure if it was when she was pregnant).
My mom had a grade school teacher who caught rubella in the 1950s from the kids at school while pregnant and her baby ended up being deaf and blind among other issues.
Harry should not stay and be home with Meghan and the children on his birthday
Yeah, his birthday is the 15th, the day before so he very well might have plans with his family.
Why do royals take so long to bury their loved ones? I would have thought her funeral would have been this week. My guess is Harry’s not going to be there.
Everything I’ve read implies she was a nice enough person, but she’s Harry’s second cousin-in-law, twice removed. It’s a bit unrealistic to think he’ll hang around for an extra week or come back for the funeral of a distant relative, even if she was pleasant enough to be around.
A “private family funeral”… in Westminster Cathedral? Must be nice!
There’s a photo of her and her husband walking arm in arm, he mostly helping her as she’d had mobility issues over the years, hence the sneakers at the Sussex wedding. He apparently took her to the hairdressers every week and took lovely care of her. This despite the fact that she had withdrawn from royal life decades ago and I’m not sure if they lived together. But it seems their relationship endured in this new form and worked for them. The Duke is very elderly and has had some issues (though he still works a good deal even as a 90 year old). I wonder how long he will survive his wife? They were married for over 60 years.
Photo: https://x.com/oldroyalty1/status/1964624983399026704
I think at one point they were separated, informally. I got the impression she was deeply unhappy and had had a breakdown. But it seems that in later life they have supported each other through some health problems, so perhaps they found a way that worked for them.
It’s interesting that she was another delightful woman who the family weren’t keen on admitting and ended up a very popular member. She also suffered from mental health problems and struggled against the formality of it all. The same story again and again. They really don’t learn.
She converted to Catholicism in the 90s, which was lost in all the Charles and Diana drama. Always thought it was a fascinating way to separate oneself from the RF. Apparently, several of her child have converted as well.
Remember her well from watching Wimbledon. Kate is a real downgrade.
Wakes are a specifically Irish thing, not Catholic generally. I would not expect her to have one.
I saw a intetview with Katherine a few years ago, she said at the time that she was cross with the British Media for them saying her and her husbsnd had separated which she denied, she actually said she gets the train home from work and cooks herself and her husband dinner every evening !!!!
She and the late Queen where great friends.and later said her and Philip where very supportive of her during her sad infant loss and her choice to becaome a Cathlolic, which was nice to hear. True Lady
I don’t know why they drag Harry into this when they remain super vague on saying if the heir and his spouse will attend. They are the ones who live nearby.
When Charles and Camilla are there, they don’t want Harry there. I am sure of that.