The coffin of Katharine, Duchess of Kent, was received at Westminster Cathedral during a solemn ceremony on the eve of her funeral. Soldiers from The Royal Dragoon Guards, a regiment she supported as deputy Colonel-in-Chief, carried the coffin from the royal hearse into the cathedral.

Katharine died peacefully at home on 4 September, aged 92. A devout Roman Catholic, she became the first royal to convert to Catholicism in more than 300 years, doing so in 1994, and she had requested a funeral at Westminster Cathedral. Immediate family, including her husband, the Duke of Kent, and their daughter Lady Helen Taylor, were welcomed by the Dean of Westminster, Father Slawomir Witon, and watched from the cathedral steps as the soldiers bore the coffin. The casket was draped with the royal standard, bearing a white ermine border to signify she was the wife of a prince, with a large floral display on top.

Ahead of the coffin’s arrival, the Duke of Kent’s siblings Prince Michael of Kent and Princess Alexandra entered the cathedral to take part in private funeral rites. The rites included a Vigil for the Deceased and a Rite of Reception (the coffin is usually sprinkled with holy water) and evening prayers known as Vespers led by Bishop James Curry, Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster and Titular Bishop of Ramsbury. The requiem mass, a Catholic funeral, will be held on Tuesday and is to be attended by the King, the Queen and other senior royals; it will be the first Catholic funeral service held for a member of the royal family in modern British history.