King, Duke of York and Royal Family members arrive for Catholic funeral of Yorkshire-born Duchess of Kent

Mourners have filled Westminster Cathedral for the requiem mass, a Catholic funeral, the first to be held for a member of the royal family in modern British history.

The disgraced Duke of York made a rare appearance outside the environs of Windsor, with his ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York.

Among those attending the funeral were the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Princess Royal and Sir Tim Laurence, the Duchess of Edinburgh and the close family of the Duke and Duchess of Kent.

Former Formula One world champion Sir Jackie Stewart and actresses Rula Lenska and Dame Maureen Lipman were also among the mourners at the cathedral for the funeral, conducted by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, leader of the Roman Catholic church in England and Wales.

But the Queen pulled out of attending the requiem mass as she is recovering from acute sinusitis.

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During the requiem mass a message from Pope Leo XIV was read in which he praised her “legacy of Christian goodness” and “dedication to official duties”.

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

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.

The duchess was known for consoling losing Wimbledon finalists, notably a tearful Jana Novotna in 1993, and presented trophies at the championships for many years.

She preferred to be known as Mrs Kent and dropped her HRH style, retreating from royal life to spend more than a decade secretly teaching music in a state primary school in Hull.