Queen pulls out of attending Duchess of Kent’s funeral due to sinusitis

The Queen has pulled out of attending the Duchess of Kent’s funeral after suffering from acute sinusitis, Buckingham Palace has announced.

Camilla, 78, had been due to join the King, the Prince and Princess of Wales and other members of the royal family at the farewell to the duchess at Westminster Cathedral in London on Tuesday afternoon.

The requiem mass, a Catholic funeral, is the first to be held for a member of the monarchy in modern British history.

The announcement raises questions over Camilla’s attendance at US president Donald Trump’s high-stakes and busy state visit, which begins in full at Windsor on Wednesday and is being hosted by the King.

The Queen, is, however, hopeful that she will have recovered sufficiently to be able to attend all royal elements of the controversial American leader’s trip as planned, with highlights including a lavish state banquet.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “With great regret, Her Majesty The Queen has withdrawn from attendance at this afternoon’s Requiem Mass for The Duchess of Kent as she is recovering from acute sinusitis.

“Her thoughts and prayers will be with The Duke of Kent and all the family.”

The Duke of Kent has been informed, and is said to fully understand Camilla’s decision, and has sent his best wishes for a speedy recovery.

The Queen travelled down from Scotland this morning and is currently en route to Windsor to rest.

Katharine, the wife of the late Queen’s cousin the Duke of Kent, died peacefully at home, surrounded by her family, on the evening of September 4 aged 92.

The Order of Service for her Requiem Mass was released on Tuesday morning showing that the Pope has sent a special message in honour of the duchess which will form part of the ceremony.

Pope Leo XIV’s words will be read to the congregation by Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendia, Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain.

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 her wish to have her funeral at Westminster Cathedral.

Personal elements of the deeply religious service include the participation of three of the duchess’s grandchildren – Lady Marina-Charlotte Windsor, Eloise Taylor and Albert Windsor who will read the Prayer of the Faithful.

A large wreath of British garden flowers, chosen by the duchess’s family, has been placed on top of the coffin and includes white roses, the symbol of Yorkshire, the county where she was born, and sprigs of yew from the gardens of Hovingham Hall, the duchess’s childhood home, representing eternal life.

Her coffin is a wicker construction made from English willow and is draped with the royal standard which has a white ermine border signifying she was the spouse of a prince.

It was received during a solemn ceremony at the cathedral for the Rite of Reception and Vespers on the eve of her funeral service, with immediate family in attendance, and the coffin resting overnight in the Lady Chapel.

Soldiers from The Royal Dragoon Guards, a regiment she supported as deputy Colonel-in-Chief, played an important role, with a piper leading the funeral cortege and other soldiers carrying the coffin into the cathedral.

The duchess’s will be the first royal funeral at the cathedral, in Victoria, central London, since its construction in 1903.

The last Roman Catholic funeral definitively known to have been held for a member of the British royal family in England was nearly 500 years ago when Queen Mary I died in 1558.

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 the Belgians, at St Michael’s Cathedral in Brussels, in August 1993.

Charles, when Prince of Wales, also went to Pope John Paul II’s funeral, representing his mother the late Queen, in 2005, while his son William attended Pope Francis’s funeral mass earlier this year.