Lady Helen Taylor, the only daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Kent, cut a solemn figure at her mother’s funeral today.
Katharine, Duchess of Kent, died aged 92 on September 4 after a period of ill-health, with Buckingham Palace announcing thatshe died ‘peacefully’ at Kensington Palace, surrounded by her family.
Joining senior royals including King Charles, Prince Williamand Kate, and dressed in black, Helen, 61, gave the second reading at the Catholic service, which was held at Westminster Cathedral on Tuesday.
In a moving display at the 2pm mass, she was seen arm-in-arm with her father, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, 89, who was using a walking stick.
She wore a hat with tulle detail and was followed by her brothers the Earl of St Andrews and Lord Nicholas Windsor.
During the service, Lady Helen read a passage from the ‘First Letter of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians’ from the New Testament.
Among the other royals attending were Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and Prince Andrew with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.
Andrew, who no longer carries out official duties for the monarchy after stepping down six years ago amid the furore over his friendship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, exited his car first and joined Sarah as they walked in together.
Lady Helen Taylor, the only daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Kent, cut a solemn figure at her mother’s funeral today
The King arrived with his top aide, principal private secretary Sir Clive Alderton, and smiled after arriving before the doors of the cathedral were closed behind him.
William had a white handkerchief tucked in his top pocket, while Kate wore a black hat with a large bow at the back and netting detail at the front, and pearl earrings, with her hair down at the back, as well as a necklace belonging to the late Queen.
Former Formula One world champion Sir Jackie Stewart and actresses Rula Lenska and Dame Maureen Lipman were among the other mourners in attendance.
The requiem mass, a Catholic funeral, is the first to be held for a member of the monarchy in modern British history and featured a Scottish bagpipe lament performed during Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral at Windsor Castle in 2022.
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 in the Nave and down the cathedral’s central aisle. The late Queen’s funeral service in St George’s Chapel ended with a piper playing the same tune.
Helen, who has worked at Christie’s auction house and been a brand ambassador for fashion labels including Giorgio Armani and Bulgari, has been married to art dealer Timothy Taylor since 1992.
She is also patron of several charities, including the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
Helen’s two brothers, George, Earl of St Andrews, 63, who delivered the first reading, and Lord Nicholas Windsor, 55, were also in attendance, supporting their 89-year-old father Prince Edward, Duke of Kent.
Lady Helen Taylor attends the Funeral of the Duchess of Kent at Westminster Cathedral on September 16
Joining senior royals including King Charles, Prince William and Kate, and dressed in black, Helen, 61, today gave the second reading at the Catholic service
The Prayer of the Faithful was later read by Helen’s eldest daughter, Eloise Taylor, 22 and her cousins Lady Marina-Charlotte Windsor, 32, and Albert Windsor, 17.
Marina-Charlotte is the daughter of Helen’s older brother, George, while Albert is the first son of her younger brother, Nicholas.
Helen last night supported her father as they attended her mother’s vigil.
She walked arm-in-arm with Prince Edward who was seen walking with a cane at the ceremony held in honour of the late royal.
Katharine’s coffin was carried out of Kensington Palace for the final time on Monday evening ahead of her funeral today.
It was transported in a royal hearse, designed by Queen Elizabeth, from her home in Kensington to Westminster Cathedral for a private vigil with her immediate family.
The hearse 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.
The Duke of Kent and Lady Helen Taylor arrive for the Requiem Mass service for the Duchess of Kent, at Westminster Cathedral, central London
The requiem mass, a Catholic funeral, is the first to be held for a member of the monarchy in modern British history
The Prince and Princess of Wales arrive for the funeral at Westminster Cathedral today
The Princess of Wales arrives for the requiem mass service for the Duchess of Kent today
After the funeral today, the coffin will be taken by hearse to the Royal Burial Ground at Frogmore, on the Windsor estate, for a private burial ceremony.
Flags will be half-masted at all official Royal Residences flying the Union flag today.
Aside from being the first Catholic funeral in three centuries, Katharine’s is the first royal funeral at Westminster Cathedral, in Victoria, central London, since its construction in 1903.
Katharine, with her husband, Prince Edward , Duke of Kent, had three children: Lady Helen Taylor, George Windsor, Earl of St Andrews, and Lord Nicholas Windsor. 61-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 youngest 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 Lady Amelia Windsor , 30, and her sister Lady Marina Windsor, 32, were dressed in black for the vigil on Monday evening, as they paid their respects to their late grandmother.
Lord Nicholas Windsor, 55, the youngest of the Duke and Duchess of Kent’s children, was seen at the back of a minibus which was carrying her grandchildren and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. The Prince, 83, is the Duke of Kent’s brother.
King Charles III arrives at the funeral for the Duchess of Kent at Westminster Cathedral today
Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson walk into Westminster Cathedral this afternoon
Lady Gabriella Windsor arriving for the requiem mass service for the Duchess of Kent today
The Duchess of Edinburgh arrives for the requiem mass service for the Duchess of Kent today
Lady Amelia Windsor attends the Duchess of Kent’s funeral at Westminster Cathedral today
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.
Following Katharine’s death, 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.
Others, such as Lady Marina, shared several glamorous photographs of the late royal in her youth, including graceful snaps captured on her wedding day in 1961.
The 32-year-old, who is one of Katharine’s 10 grandchildren, wrote: ‘Rest in peace my amazing and beloved Amama [grandmother], we will miss and love you so much always and thank you to everyone who has sent such kind and touching messages, sending lots of love to all.’
Other pictures including the Duchess dressed in a yellow ensemble, cuddling a koala bear, along with a more recent snap of her dressed in a more casual white shirt and jeans combination, standing in a doorway.
Lady Marina also shared an Instagram story that said: ‘My amazing Amama, I love you always and forever and more than words could ever say.
‘Thank you for everything, all the deep love, special friendship, giggles and hugs, I will miss you so much and you will always be in my heart.’
In a statement signed ‘W & C’, the Prince and Princess of Wales said: ‘Our thoughts today are with The Duke of Kent and his family, particularly George, Helen and Nicholas.
Princess Anneat the funeral for the Duchess of Kent at Westminster Cathedral today
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson arrive at the requiem mass for the Duchess of Kent today
‘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 Duchess attended events marking the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 and was present for the then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s 2011 wedding, and the Sussexes’ nuptials in 2018 where she wore comfortable white trainers paired with a floral Erdem maxi dress and walked arm in arm with a staff member from the royal household for support.
In recent years, her health grew increasingly poor and she did not attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral or the King’s coronation.
Katharine became the oldest living member of the Royal Family when Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022.
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.
