The Duke of Kent and Andrew Parker Bowles were among the mourners to pay their respects to Field Marshal Lord Guthrie at his funeral requiem mass at Westminster Cathedral on Wednesday. It comes just weeks after the Duke, 90, bid an emotional farewell to his late wife, the Duchess of Kent, at the Catholic cathedral.
Prince Edward, who is the cousin of the late Queen Elizabeth II, was dressed respectfully in a black suit as he was seated among the congregation, along with Queen Camilla's ex-husband and retired British army officer Andrew, former British tennis player Debbie Jevans, and former politician Michael Portillo.
Charles Ronald Llewelyn Guthrie, who died aged 86 on 18 September, held the most senior positions within the Armed Forces. He served as Chief of the General Staff from 1994 to 1997 and Chief of the Defence Staff from 1997 to 2001.
He continued his service as Colonel Commandant of the Special Air Service from 2001 to 2010, Colonel of The Life Guards 1998 to 2019 and served as Gold Stick in Waiting to the late Queen from 1999 to 2019. In 1971, he married Catherine Worrall, the daughter of a colonel of the Coldstream Guards. Catherine died in 2022 and the couple are survived by their sons, David and Andrew.
The Duke of Kent retired from the Army with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in 1976 to carry out full-time royal duties, but he still retains his close links to the military. Although he has not officially retired from public life, he has scaled back his commitments in recent years.
Last week, the Duke marked his 90th birthday on 9 October, with the royal family sharing their well-wishes on social media, including a previously unseen photograph of the King and the Duke at Buckingham Palace after the coronation in 2023. Images shared by the group, British Poles, showed that the Duke held an intimate birthday celebration at Ognisko Polskie in South Kensington, where his brother, Prince Michael of Kent, was among the guests.