The King, Prince William and the Princess of Wales have attended the funeral of the Duchess of Kent.

The trio were joined by other royals at 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.

Katharine, Duchess of Kent, who became the oldest living member of the Royal Family on the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, died at the age of 92 on 4 September.

It emerged earlier that the Queen had withdrawn from attending while she recovers from illness.

Buckingham Palace said on Tuesday that Camilla, 78, is recovering from acute sinusitis, with the withdrawal raising questions over her attendance for US President Donald Trump‘s state visit, which begins at Windsor on Wednesday.

That visit is being hosted by the King, but the Queen is understood to be hopeful she will recover in time to attend all royal elements of Mr Trump’s trip, which includes a lavish state banquet.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “With great regret, Her Majesty the Queen has withdrawn from attendance at this afternoon’s requiem mass for the Duchess of Kent as she is recovering from acute sinusitis.”

The Duke of Kent was informed and was said to fully understand the decision, wishing her a speedy recovery.

The Queen had travelled down from Scotland this morning and is currently travelling to Windsor, where she will rest.

“Her thoughts and prayers will be with the Duke of Kent and all the family,” the spokesperson added.

During the service, Pope Leo XIV paid a personal tribute to the Duchess of Kent, praising her “legacy of Christian goodness” in a message delivered during her funeral.

In words read out by Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendia, the pontiff highlighted her “dedication to official duties”.

Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York, were seen approaching Westminster Cathedral for the service.

Former Formula 1 world champion Sir Jackie Stewart and actresses Rula Lenska and Dame Maureen Lipman were also among the mourners.

The parents of the Southport killer took delivery of a number of machetes and knives, which they tried to hide from him, the inquiry into the stabbings has been told.

Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Stancombe, seven, were murdered at a Taylor Swift-themed class on 29 July last year by Axel Rudakubana, who was jailed for a minimum of 52 years.

He seriously injured eight more girls and two adults who had tried to stop him.

Nicholas Moss KC, counsel to the inquiry into the killings, said the purchase of weapons by Rudakubana – referred to by the inquiry throughout as AR – is “important because it will highlight vulnerabilities in the law against the purchase of knives, crossbows and machetes”.

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Killer ‘used dad’s details to order knife’

On the purchase of weapons, Mr Moss said it is “also important because it is one significant factor in the questions which we need to explore with his family, particularly his parents”, asking “What did they know of the weapons purchases?”

The inquiry was told that his father or mother appeared to have taken delivery of the knife that was used in the attack, and that it was ordered via Amazon under an IP address suggesting the use of a Virtual Private Network.

Rudakubana used his father’s details instead of his own when ordering the knife, which was approved by Amazon because the name and address provided were those of an adult and matched up with credit check agency information.

Mr Moss said the package was shipped to an “Ax Rud” at his home address near Southport, arriving at around 5.40pm on 15 July 2024.

Ring camera footage from the property of Rudakubana’s next-door neighbour showed the delivery, but the recipient could not be seen.

The driver entered the recipient’s year of birth as 1978 and confirmed that they appeared to be over the age of 25.

Rudakubana’s father’s date of birth is in 1975, and his mother’s is in 1972, Mr Moss told the hearing.

‘Parents accepted – and hid – weapon deliveries from son’

Mr Moss then said Rudakubana’s parents had accepted deliveries of weapons and hidden them from him on multiple occasions.

A June 2023 delivery of a 22-inch machete – ordered using the driving licence of a woman named Alice born in 1991 and living in Sunderland – was found on top of the wardrobe in Rudakubana’s parents’ bedroom in sealed packaging.

In his statement to Merseyside Police after the attack, Rudakubana’s father said he had signed for a parcel containing knives that was addressed to someone with a British-sounding name, and he hid the parcel on top of his wardrobe despite his son asking for it.

An October 2023 order of a machete with a 16.5-inch blade – ordered using a driving licence for Samuel, a black man born in Nigeria in 1961, living in Uxbridge – was found by the police after Rudakubana’s prosecution, still in its packaging and unopened.

Rudakubana ordered a third machete that month, called a Kukri Congo 488 JKR with a blade length of 30.5cm from Huntingandknives.co.uk, again using Samuel’s driving licence.

That machete was found in the search of Rudakubana’s home in a black holdall under the bunk beds in his bedroom.

‘Parents scared of Rudakubana’s behaviour’

The inquiry heard that Rudakubana’s parents had a “fear” of their son’s response if they asked him questions about packages or attempted to tidy his room.

Mr Moss said they were scared that he may be violent towards them, towards his older brother or cause damage to the house, and that they had noticed a “marked deterioration” in his behaviour after being excluded from the Range School for possessing a knife in 2019.

“However, it may be said to be apparent that AR’s parents were aware of other aspects of AR’s conduct that might have been expected to give rise to a concern,” he added.

The inquiry has asked Rudakubana’s parents about any steps that they took to recover knives from their son, and whether they considered reporting the incident to the police or any other agency.

The inquiry continues.

A Labour peer has claimed he was “discreetly” told to “shut up” by Number 10 after issuing warnings about the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador.

Maurice Glasman, who was the only Labour figure to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration, said he was shown “photos of Peter Mandelson blowing out birthday candles with Jeffrey Epstein” while in the US in January.

The peer told Sophy Ridge on the Politics Hub that he reported this back to Downing Street, and was given a “discreet suggestion to basically shut up about that”.

Lord Mandelson was sacked as the UK’s ambassador to the US last Thursday after details of his close relationship with disgraced financier Mr Epstein emerged in the media.

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He had always admitted to having known Epstein, but emails between Lord Mandelson and the convicted paedophile showed the diplomat had sent messages of support even as the financier faced jail for sex offences in 2008.

Lord Glasman, who founded the Blue Labour movement in 2009 as a counter to New Labour, told Sophy that he “held the line” on Lord Mandelson even as he was presented with photographs of the ambassador and Epstein together.

He said he “reported back to No 10, that really I would think again about this appointment because really [his dismissal] was bound to happen”.

“It was not out of the clear blue sky, was it?”

The peer said he was asked to send back a report on the matter, which he did, and “that was that”.

“I did say when I got back, I’d think again about this publicly. And then I did get a discreet suggestion to basically shut up about that. And I did.”

Sir Keir Starmer said on Monday he would have “never appointed” Lord Mandelson as US ambassador if he knew then what he knows now.

The prime minister said Lord Mandelson went through a proper due diligence process before his appointment.

But, he added: “Had I known then what I know now, I’d have never appointed him.”

Sir Keir said he knew before Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday that Lord Mandelson had not yet answered questions from government officials, but was unaware of the contents of the messages that led to his sacking.

He said Lord Mandelson did not provide answers until “very late” on Wednesday, which was when he decided he had to be “removed”.

Lord Mandelson has said he regrets his relationship with Epstein, claiming repeatedly he wishes they had never met.