King Charles III attends Catholic Requiem Mass for Duchess of Kent, Pope Leo sends condolences

King Charles III received a telegram of condolences from Pope Leo XIV and attended the Catholic Requiem Mass for Katharine, the Duchess of Kent at Westminster Cathedral Sept. 16, marking the first time since the Reformation that a reigning monarch has formally attended a Catholic Mass in the United Kingdom, according to The Catholic Herald. 

The private Mass was not livestreamed, but the Times News broadcast the king’s arrival to the cathedral, as well as the arrival of other royals. Queen Camilla, 78, was unable to attend the Mass as she is recovering from acute sinusitis, and sent her “deep regrets” about being absent, according to the BBC. Princess Kate Middleton and Prince William, Princess Anne and her husband Sir Tim Laurence, and the Duchess of Edinburgh were among those who attended. 

The late Katharine, Duchess of Kent, converted to Catholicism in 1994 and raised her children in the faith. According to Vatican News, she was the first senior member of the British Royal Family to openly convert to Catholicism since the 18th century. 

She spent time “out of the spotlight,” serving “quietly as a music teacher at a state primary school and volunteered at a homeless shelter run by the Diocese of Westminster,” as CatholicVote previously reported. She died at age 92 on Sept. 4, and her funeral is likely the first royal Catholic funeral in the UK since the Reformation. She is survived by her husband, Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent. Two of her grandchildren, and her son Lord Nicholas Windsor, are also Catholic. 

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, celebrated the funeral Mass, and the BBC reported that the late duchess’ children and grandchildren were lectors in the liturgy. After the Mass, pallbearers carried her coffin, which was draped with the white-bordered royal standard of the United Kingdom, in procession out of the church. 

Pope Leo sent a telegram to King Charles III Sept. 16 expressing spiritual closeness to the royal family during this time of mourning. He also praised the late duchess’ legacy. 

“I was saddened to learn of the death of Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, and I send heartfelt condolences, together with the assurance of my prayerful closeness, to your majesty, the members of the Royal Family, and especially to her husband, the Duke of Kent, and their children and grandchildren at this time of sorrow,” Pope Leo said. 

“Entrusting her noble soul to the mercy of our Heavenly Father, I readily associate myself with all those offering thanksgiving to Almighty God for the Duchess’s legacy of Christian goodness, seen in her many years of dedication to official duties, patronage of charities, and devoted care for vulnerable people in society,” he concluded. “To all who mourn her loss, in the sure hope of the Resurrection, I willingly impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of consolation and peace in the Risen Lord.”

According to Express News, the funeral rites began Sept. 15 with a Vigil for the Deceased, the Rite of Reception, and Vespers led by Bishop James Curry, the auxiliary bishop of Westminster.