Full list of royals absent from Duchess of Kent's funeral as Queen Camilla sends her 'thoughts and prayers'

Buckingham Palace confirmed earlier that Queen Camilla was forced to withdraw from the service due to illness.

A Palace spokesman told GB News: "With great regret, Her Majesty The Queen has withdrawn from attendance at this afternoon’s Requiem Mass for The Duchess of Kent as she is recovering from acute sinusitis.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."

The King’s youngest brother, Prince Edward, was also missing, meaning his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, attended the service by herself.

The Duke of Edinburgh is currently in Papua New Guinea representing the Crown at events marking the 50th anniversary of the country’s independence from Australia.

His overseas engagement meant he was unable to return in time for today’s funeral.

Among the wider family, several non-working and non-senior royals with no immediate relation to the late Duchess were not present.

Zara Tindall and her brother Peter Phillips, as well as Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, were all absent.

Lady Louise Windsor and her brother James, Earl of Wessex, also did not attend. Their absence reflected the personal, family-focused nature of the service, which was not an official state occasion.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were likewise unable to join the congregation.

The couple remain in California, where they live with their two children.

The Duke of Sussex had been in Britain and Ukraine last week on separate visits but has since returned to the United States.

Today’s Catholic funeral, held at the mother church of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, honoured the Duchess of Kent’s long life and deep faith.

She became the most senior royal to convert to Catholicism in 1994 and dedicated decades of quiet service to music and education.

The absence of several family members did not detract from the solemnity of the occasion.

King Charles, the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the Duke of York led those present in a final farewell, supported by other senior royals and close friends of the Duchess.

While travel commitments, illness and distance prevented some from attending, messages of sympathy and support from those absent were understood to have been shared privately with the Duke of Kent and his family, reflecting the widespread respect for Katharine, Duchess of Kent, and the private, familial nature of the day’s ceremony.