The Duchess of Edinburgh made a poignant gesture to The Duchess of Kent’s husband during the late royal’s funeral yesterday.

Sophie, 60, gathered at Westminster Cathedral with other senior royals, including the Prince and Princess of Wales, to bid a final farewell to Katharine, who was one of the most popular royals of her generation.

In one particularly emotive moment, Sophie blew the Duke of Kent a kiss before asking from afar how he was.

The show of support was undoubtedly appreciated by the Duke of Kent as he laid his wife of 64 years to rest yesterday afternoon, surrounded by his loved ones.

Katharine – or Mrs Kent as she preferred to be called in her no-nonsense, down-to-earth Yorkshire way – passed away aged 92 on September 4 after a period of ill-health.

Among those mourning the late royal on Tuesday were also her three children – George Windsor, Earl of St Andrews, Lady Helen Taylor, and Lord Nicholas Taylor – as well as her ten grandchildren.

The Duchess died ‘peacefully’ at Kensington Palace, surrounded by her loved ones, and on Monday night her coffin was carried in a royal hearse to Westminster Cathedral.

Sophie, who cut a dignified figure in black mourning attire, attended the service without her husband, Prince Edward.

The Duchess of Edinburgh made a poignant tribute to The Duchess of Kent’s husband during the late royal’s funeral at Westminster Cathedral yesterday 

Sophie blew the Duke of Kent a kiss as she stood with members of the Royal Family after the service on Tuesday afternoon

Edward is currently in Papua New Guinea, where he attended a flag-lowering ceremony today in Port Moresby, marking Papua New Guinea’s 50th Anniversary. 

Town & Country magazine reported that Edward arrived in the South Pacific island nation on Sunday, ahead of the country’s 50th anniversary of its independence from Austalia. 

He is expected to remain in Papua New Guinea, one of 15 commonwealth nations where Charles is head of state, until September 17 – meaning Edward will also miss the beginning of US president Donald Trump’s two-day State Visit. 

Edward and Sophie’s two children – Lady Louise Windsor, 21, and James, Earl of Wessex, 17, – were not in attendance at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral service in London either. 

At 92, Katharine, the wife of the late Queen’s cousin, became the oldest member of the royal family following Queen Elizabeth’s death in 2022. 

King Charles attended without Queen Camilla as she was recovering from acute sinusitis.

A 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.’

Sophie was abroad, undertaking a four-day visit to Canada, arriving in the North American country the night before news of the Duchess’s death was announced.  

She was the first member of the royal family to be seen following the sad announcement, attending a pre-arranged engagement to Spruce Meadows, a multi-purpose sports facility near Calgary in Alberta.

Kate, 43, remembered the Duchess, who became the oldest living member of the Royal Family when Queen Elizabeth II died in 2022, with William yesterday

Pictured: King Charles, Prince William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales at the funeral of The Duchess of Kent at Westminster Cathedral

She bore a solemn expression as she carried out her duties, and appeared to be wearing mourning attire, dressing in a simple shirtdress from Gabriela Hearst with a black tie around her waist.

Sophie opted for pared-back jewellery, including Adore earrings, and at times shielded her expression behind her brown Stella McCartney sunglasses.

It is believed that members of the royal family will usually carry a black mourning outfit with them whenever they travel in case tragic news breaks while they are abroad.

The rule stems from 1952, when Queen Elizabeth had to wait on her plane after returning from Africa to change into appropriate mourning attire after the death of her father, King George VI.

Katharine had become 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, which will be the first Catholic ceremony for a Royal in modern British history.  

And in keeping with Roman Catholic tradition, her coffin traveled from Kensington Palace to the cathedral yesterday, for a series of private funeral rites attended by the Duchess’s immediate family.

It was led by a military piper from The Royal Dragoon Guards, a regiment the Duchess supported as deputy Colonel-in-Chief since its inception in 1992, for the first few minutes of the journey.

Other service personnel from the regiment formed the bearer party carrying the coffin into the cathedral where it will rest overnight in the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Kate was pictured leaving Westminster Cathedral after the memorial service for the Duchess of Kent, who died ‘peacefully’ while surrounded by her family at Kensington Palace on September 4

Prince Edward is currently in Papua New Guinea, marking the country’s 50th Anniversary in Port Moresby (seen yesterday with Papua New Guinea’s Chief of Defence Rear Admiral Philip Polewara)

Pictured: Papua New Guinea Governor-general Bob Dadae receiving Prince Edward during the flag lowering ceremony marking Papua New Guinea’s 50th Anniversary in Port Moresby

Edward delivered a speech yesterday evening at the Papua New Guinea’s 50th Anniversary event at Sir John Guise Stadium

The Duchess of Kent’s mourning grandchildren appeared sombre as they attended the vigil on Monday.

The Duchess’s coffin was carried in a royal hearse, designed by Queen Elizabeth, from her home in Kensington to Westminster Cathedral.

Katharine, with her husband, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, had three children: George Windsor, the Earl of St Andrews, Lady Helen Taylor and Lord Nicholas Windsor.

Sixty-one-year-old Helen is mother to her four children with husband Timothy Taylor, Columbus Taylor, 31, Cassius Taylor, 28, otherwise known as the ‘bad boy royal’, Eloise Olivia Katherine Taylor, 22, and Estella Taylor, 20.

Meanwhile, Helen’s younger brother Lord Nicholas Windsor, 55, is the father of two sons, Albert Windsor, 17, and Leopold Windsor, 15.

The oldest of Katharine’s children, George Windsor, the Earl of St Andrews, has three children: Edward Windsor, 36, Lady Marina Charlotte Windsor, 32, and Lady Amelia Windsor, 30.

Both Amelia and Marina were dressed in black for the vigil, as they paid their respects to their late grandmother.

Lord Nicholas was seen at the back of a minibus which was carrying her grandchildren and the Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. The Prince, 83, is the Duke of Kent’s brother.

The Duke of Kent’s sister, Princess Alexandra, 88, also arrived by taxi and in a wheelchair. The Duke of Kent is now the oldest living member of the Royal Family following the death of his wife.

After Katharine’s passing, several of her grandchildren posted tributes on social media, with Lady Amelia sharing a vintage monochrome photograph of her grandmother, along with a red love heart.

The last Catholic royal was King James II, who reigned from 1685 until he was deposed by his daughter Mary II and her Dutch husband William III of Orange in the Glorious Revolution of 1688.

The Act of Settlement 1701 banned Catholic monarchs and ensured a Protestant line of succession. 

The King was not the first modern monarch to have attended a Catholic funeral – Queen Elizabeth II went to the Catholic state funeral of King Baudouin of the Belgians, at St Michael’s Cathedral in Brussels, in August 1993.

Charles, when he was Prince of Wales, 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.

Aside from being the first Catholic funeral in three centuries, Katharine’s was the first royal funeral at the Westminster Cathedral, in Victoria, central London, since its construction in 1903.

The Duchess of Kent was very close to Prince Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, and the pair often would often sit together at royal events and Wimbledon.

The two women enjoyed a warm friendship that dated back to her engagement to Harry’s father and she later spoke of her grief when Diana died in 1997.

It came as the Prince and Princess of Wales gave a loving tribute to the Duchess, with William and Kate saying she would be ‘much missed’.

The future king and queen described how she had ‘worked tirelessly’ in her life to help others.

‘The Duchess worked tirelessly to help others and supported many causes, including through her love of music. She will be a much missed member of the family’.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the Duchess of Kent brought ‘compassion, dignity and a human touch to everything she did’, as he paid tribute following her death.

The wife of the Duke of Kent, cousin of Queen Elizabeth and grandson of King George V was universally admired for her beauty and elegance.

However, she was equally renowned for her compassion and dignity, seeking permission from the late Queen to convert to Catholicism and give up full-time royal duties following a series of personal tragedies to work as a music teacher in a Hull primary school.

She also founded a charity, Future Talent, to support some of the country’s brightest but under-supported musical prodigies.