Prince William will attend Pope Francis’s funeral in King Charles’s place

It has been decided that Prince William will fly to Rome and Vatican City for Pope Francis’s funeral, which will be held on Saturday. I would imagine that William will likely fly into Rome on Friday, but the “state funeral” aspect of Pope Francis’s funeral will go down on Saturday. I wondered aloud if King Charles would actually try to go to this funeral, given his relationships with many of the world leaders who plan to be in attendance. But according to Katie Nicholl at Vanity Fair, there’s a reason why Charles cannot go to the funeral: protocol and precedence.

Prince William will attend Pope Francis’s funeral on behalf of King Charles, Kensington Palace confirmed on Tuesday. The Prince of Wales will join world leaders, including President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, at the funeral service at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican on Saturday.

The Prince of Wales will join world leaders, including President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, at the funeral service at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican on Saturday.

King Charles, the last head of state to have an audience with Pope Francis, will not travel to the Vatican, in accordance with protocol and precedence which dictates that the Sovereign does not attend funerals, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.

The attendance of Prince William alongside world leaders highlights the vital role he plays as heir. When Pope John Paul II died in April 2005, Charles and Queen Camilla’s wedding was delayed as Charles was required to attend in place of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

[From Vanity Fair]

“Protocol and precedence”? Meaning what? It’s somehow against protocol for an Anglican king to attend a pope’s funeral? Probably. Because some of the Catholic kings and queens will attend, notably Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia. It’s also noteworthy that William never met Pope Francis, probably because William is so incredibly lazy and he consistently refuses to travel. Still, get ready for lots of Kensington Palace keenery about “Statesman Bill.” They’ll pour it on thick to avoid this question: why couldn’t Kate make a simple trip to Italy for a funeral? Why is Kate being blocked from nearly all of the diplomatic royal keenery for the past year?

There’s already a long list of people confirming their attendance at the funeral too – Keir Starmer, Donald Trump, Argentina’s President Javier Milei, Emmanuel Macron and Volodymyr Zelensky will all go to the funeral. Apparently, Vladimir Putin will send his regards but not attend. Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde will also attend.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.