Catherine, Princess of Wales, wore a four-row pearl choker that once belonged to Queen Elizabeth II as she attended the Requiem Mass for Katharine, Duchess of Kent, at Westminster Cathedral on Tuesday.
The Princess of Wales arrived in all-black mourning attire with matching pearl drop earrings and a netted black hat, joining senior members of the royal family including King Charles and Prince William. Catherine’s choker — described as a Japanese-style piece featuring four rows of pearls and a curved central diamond clasp — has been worn publicly by the late Queen during her 70-year reign and was previously loaned to Diana, Princess of Wales.
The choker is reported to have been assembled using pearls that the Queen received from the Japanese government after her state visit to Japan in 1975. Catherine has worn items from the late monarch’s jewellery collection on other formal occasions, including the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh’s 70th wedding anniversary dinner in 2017, and re-wore a Roland Mouret dress that she previously wore to Prince Philip’s funeral in 2021.
The Requiem Mass was the first Catholic funeral held in modern times for a member of the British royal family. A piper from The Royal Dragoon Guards played the lament “Sleep, Dearie, Sleep” while processing from the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary past the Duchess’s coffin; the same tune was performed at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral at Windsor Castle in 2022.
The Duchess of Kent, Katharine Lucy Mary Windsor, died earlier this month at Wren House, Kensington Palace, at the age of 92. She had been unwell for some time and was surrounded by family at the time of her death. Following the announcement, the Prince and Princess of Wales issued a joint tribute, signed "W & C," saying the duchess had “worked tirelessly to help others” and would be “much missed.”
Among those attending Tuesday’s service were the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, and younger members of the extended royal family including Lady Amelia and Lady Marina Windsor. Former Formula One champion Sir Jackie Stewart and actresses Rula Lenska and Dame Maureen Lipman were also present.
King Charles arrived with his principal private secretary, Sir Clive Alderton. Photographs of arrivals showed the duke and duchess of Wales greeting other mourners before the service. Prince Andrew, who stepped down from public duties in 2019, arrived with Sarah, Duchess of York, and walked into the cathedral together.
The Duchess of Kent had a long association with music and charity work. She co-founded the Future Talent charity, which supports young musicians who lack access to support and mentoring. In a statement after her death, the charity said it was “deeply saddened” and paid tribute to the duchess as its founder and “visionary.”
Nicholas Robinson OBE, co-founder of Future Talent and a friend of the duchess for more than two decades, told media outlets that Katharine had a “courage and compassion” that shaped her work. Robinson recalled the duchess’s hands-on involvement in the charity’s early years, her dedication to mentoring young musicians, and her years teaching anonymously in a Hull primary school, where she was known simply as Katharine or “Mrs. Kent.”
Born Katharine Worsley in 1933 at Hovingham Hall in North Yorkshire, she married Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, in 1961 at York Minster. The duchess gave up full-time royal duties and the HRH style in 2002 and later converted to Catholicism with the late Queen’s permission, a rare move within the royal family. Her three children are George, Earl of St Andrews; Lady Helen Taylor; and Lord Nicholas Windsor.
The duchess’s public profile included appearances at major royal events, charitable engagements and a widely recalled moment of compassion when she consoled Czech tennis player Jana Novotná at Wimbledon in 1993. In recent years her health limited her public appearances; she did not attend Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in 2022 or King Charles’s coronation.
Tuesday’s service followed weeks of public and private tributes to the duchess. Prime Minister Keir Starmer described her as bringing “compassion, dignity and a human touch” to her work. Friends and colleagues have highlighted her behind-the-scenes contributions to music education and her preference for low-profile service, including the decade she spent teaching in a primary school while eschewing publicity.
The funeral concluded a period of mourning for the duchess and offered the royal family an opportunity to mark her life of charity and music. No further ceremonial events have been announced publicly beyond the Requiem Mass held at Westminster Cathedral.