Buckingham Palace has released further details about the Duchess of Kent's vigil and funeral next week, including guests and military involvement. Katharine Worsley, wife of the late Queen Elizabeth II's cousin, the Duke of Kent, died aged 92 at her Kensington Palace home on 4 September.
On Monday, the eve of the Duchess's Catholic funeral, the royal hearse will transport her coffin from Kensington Palace to Westminster Cathedral for a private vigil. The hearse will be preceded by a piper from The Royal Dragoon Guards, of which Katharine was Deputy Colonel-in-Chief since the regiment's inception in 1992. The Bearer Party receiving the coffin at Westminster Cathedral will also be from The Royal Dragoon Guards.
The Duchess of Kent's immediate family will attend the private vigil, likely including the Duke of Kent, 89, their three children and ten grandchildren. The coffin will rest overnight in the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary before the requiem mass on Monday. The King and Queen and other royal family members will join the Duke of Kent and the Duchess's family at the service.
The Requiem Mass will be conducted by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, with additional participation by Bishop James Curry and the Dean of Windsor. Following the Mass, the coffin will be taken by hearse to the Royal Burial Ground at Frogmore, Windsor. This will be the first Catholic funeral service for a member of the royal family in modern British history, reflecting the Duchess's conversion to Catholicism in 1994.
