William to attend Pope’s funeral on behalf of the King
The late Pope Francis will be buried on Saturday, following his death on Easter Monday.
The Prince of Wales is to attend the Pope’s funeral on behalf of the King, Kensington Palace has announced.
Heir to the throne William, a future head of the Church of England, will represent his father by travelling to Vatican City for Pope Francis’s funeral mass in St Peter’s Square on Saturday.
The decision is in keeping with modern tradition and will be seen as a major milestone in William’s role as a global statesman and future king.
It is the first time the prince has attended an international funeral on behalf of the monarch.
In December 2023, he flew to Kuwait, representing the King by paying his condolences to the country’s new leader following the death of the ruling emir, Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah.
But he did not attend the Sheikh’s funeral.
In December last year, William represented his father at the official reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, where he met Donald Trump.
Kensington Palace said the decision on William’s attendance at the Pope’s funeral followed Government advice.
The prince did not meet Pope Francis, unlike the King who developed a strong bond with the pontiff over the years.
Charles as the Prince of Wales went to Pope John Paul II’s funeral, representing his mother the late Queen, in 2005.
Queen Elizabeth II never attended the funeral of a pontiff, the head of the Roman Catholic Church.
Kensington Palace said: “The Prince of Wales will attend the funeral of Pope Francis, on behalf of His Majesty The King.”
William will gather alongside world leaders including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and US President Mr Trump.
Charles delayed his wedding to the then-Camilla Parker Bowles, now Queen Camilla, by a day to attend Pope John Paul II’s funeral in April 2005.
This month, the King and Queen had a moving private meeting with Pope Francis on their state visit to Italy, just 12 days before the 88-year-old died after suffering a stroke.
The King has expressed his “most heartfelt condolences and profound sympathy” and praised Pope Francis’s compassion and tireless commitment to the common causes of all people of faith.
Elizabeth II sent the Earl Marshal, the Duke of Norfolk, as her representative to the funeral masses of Pope John Paul I and Pope Paul VI, who both died in 1978, and to that of Pope Pius XII in 1958.
The Earl Marshal is a hereditary role whose duties include organising monarchs’ funerals and coronations.
The current duke, Edward Fitzalan-Howard, is also the most senior lay member of the Roman Catholic Church in Britain.
In 1963, Elizabeth II sent the Earl of Perth, her special representative, to the funeral of Pope John XXIII.
The late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the Duke of Gloucester also represented the Queen at papal inaugural masses.
William is not known for his Christian faith, and, unlike his father and grandmother, is not a regular churchgoer.
British monarchs serve as Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
Royal author Robert Hardman wrote in 2024 that according to a senior Palace figure, William “very much respects the institutions”, but he is “not instinctively comfortable in a faith environment”.
