King Charles and other senior royals have arrived at the funeral of Katharine, the Duchess of Kent at Westminster Cathedral.
But Queen Camilla sent her “deep regrets” at having to miss the service because she was still recovering from acute sinusitis.
The Prince and Princess of Wales, who had paid warm tributes to the music-loving duchess, are among the mourners at the Requiem Mass, alongside the Duke of Kent and their three children.
This is the first Catholic funeral for a member of the Royal Family in modern times – and a message from Pope Leo will be read out during the service.
The Queen’s health problem was announced by the palace ahead of the funeral.
“Her thoughts and prayers will be with the Duke of Kent and all the family,” said a statement from Buckingham Palace.
But the palace said that despite this painful inflammation of the sinuses, the Queen still plans to take part in the state visit of President Trump, who will be in Windsor on Wednesday.
Crowds gathered outside the Byzantine-style church in Westminster as the family and friends of the duchess arrived for the funeral, which is a private service.
Princess Anne and her husband Sir Tim Laurence and Prince Andrew with his former wife Sarah Ferguson were among the royals attending.
The coffin of the duchess was brought to the cathedral on Monday, draped in the royal standard and with white roses among the flowers, in honour of the duchess’ Yorkshire roots.
The duchess was the oldest member of the Royal Family when she died earlier this month at the age of 92. She was married to the first cousin of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
There have been many memories of her kindness and her dedication to charities.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, who will preside over the funeral service, has spoken of how the duchess often volunteered at the Passage charity for the homeless, which is based next door to the cathedral.
Speaking ahead of the funeral, he remembered her as a “very down to earth person” who had helped in the kitchen and with cleaning at the charity.
“So as well as combining royal duties, she entered very wholeheartedly into serving people,” Cardinal Nichols told the BBC.
This is a historic moment in terms of being a royal Catholic funeral, but the Cardinal said it should be seen primarily as a “family funeral where the members of the family gather round”.
“One of their oldest members has died. A woman who was greatly loved within that family and also, as we’ve seen, by much of the public,” said Cardinal Nichols.
The duchess had a deep love of music and had worked as a primary school music teacher, calling herself Mrs Kent, with the pupils not knowing anything about her royal life.
Music at the funeral will include Ave Verum Corpus by Mozart, which was selected by the duchess as her favourite piece when she was a guest on the BBC’s Desert Island Discs in 1990.
A piper will play the lament Sleep, Dearie, Sleep, which was played at the funeral of the late Queen, which was three years ago this week.
There will also be music by JS Bach and from the requiem by French composer Maurice Durufle.
The duchess will also be remembered as a familiar figure at the Wimbledon tennis championships, where she handed over trophies – and consoled those who had lost, including a tearful Jana Novotna in 1993.
After the funeral at Westminster Cathedral, the coffin will be taken to the royal burial ground in Frogmore, on the Windsor estate.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.bbc.com ’
