The heir to the throne will represent his father at Saturday’s ceremony
The Prince of Wales will travel to Vatican City on Saturday to attend Pope Francis’s funeral mass.(Image: Getty Images)
Kensington Palace have announced that Prince William will attend the Pope’s funeral on behalf of the King.
The Prince of Wales, a future head of the Church of England, will travel to Vatican City for Pope Francis’s funeral mass in St Peter’s Square on Saturday.
While many will be surprised at the announcement, the decision is in keeping with modern tradition.
Charles as the Prince of Wales went to Pope John Paul II’s funeral in 2005 – representing his mother the late Queen.
Queen Elizabeth II never attended the funeral of a pontiff, the head of the Roman Catholic Church.
Prince William’s representation of the Royal Family in Rome will be seen as a major milestone in his role as a global statesman and future king.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Kensington Palace said: “The Prince of Wales will attend the funeral of Pope Francis, on behalf of His Majesty The King.”
William will be joined by many world leaders at Saturday’s event, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump.
Earlier his month, the King and Queen had a moving private meeting with Pope Francis on their state visit to Italy.
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.
The first Latin American leader of the Catholic Church passed away at his residence in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta on Easter Monday.
His cause of death was confirmed by the Vatican to have been a cerebral stroke that led to a coma and irreversible heart failure.
Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Argentina in 1936, had been Pope since March 2013 following the resignation of Benedict XVI.
The Prince of Wales is not known for his Christian faith, and, unlike his father and grandmother, is not a regular churchgoer.
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”.