Leaders and dignitaries from all corners of the world are convening in St Peter’s Square in Rome today for the funeral of Pope Francis. Prince William will be representing the King, and is appearing on behalf of Britain alongside the UK’s Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. However, while some royals from other countries are attending as husband and wife, Kate Middleton will not be present with William at the funeral.

She will make her first public appearance in more than five weeks next Wednesday, for a two-day visit to the Scottish Isles. The Princess of Wales has made a gradual return to work since announcing last September that she had finished chemotherapy treatment. She has made it clear that she wants to focus on her health and her family, and her timetable of public appearances remains light.

However, even without this factor, precedent dictates that it is most likely that the Princess would not have attended the funeral today. In previous years, it has become typical for the heir to the throne to represent the monarch at overseas funerals or commemorations and to do so alone. In 2023, William traveled solo to Kuwait to pay his respects following the death of Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah.

When he was a Prince, Charles attended a number of state funerals or mourning ceremonies alone on behalf of his mother Queen Elizabeth, including that of the previous Pope John Paul II in 2005. Charles attended the state funeral of President Ronald Reagan in 2004. He flew solo to Riyadh in 2015 to pay his respects following the death of King Abdullah.

In 2018, he attended the funeral of George H W Bush in Washington. And in 2020, he traveled to commemoration ceremonies in Oman marking the death of the country’s Sultan Qaboos bin Said. When other royals have represented a monarch at a funeral they have also attended alone.

Prince Edward represented his brother King Charles at President Jimmy Carter’s funeral in January this year.