Prince William paid tribute to the late Pope Francis at the Catholic leader’s funeral in Vatican City on Saturday, April 26.
The Prince of Wales, 42, represented the British royal family and his father, King Charles, at the ceremony, which was also attended by other royals, foreign dignitaries and religious leaders from around the world including President Donald Trump and more.
As heir, Charles represented his mother, Queen Elizabeth, at the 2005 funeral of Pope John Paul II. In fact, that funeral forced the royal to push back his wedding to Queen Camilla by one day so he and others could attend.
The late Queen Elizabeth never attended a funeral service for a pope, despite the fact that four — Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul I — died during her 70-year reign.
No one from the British royal family attended the 2023 funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
Prince William’s attendance at the funeral is the latest instance of the Prince of Wales taking over more senior royal duties as heir to the throne. He similarly represented the British monarchy at the reopening of the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Dec. 7.
King Charles, 76, and Queen Camilla, 77, met with Pope Francis just 12 days before he died, on April 9. The royal couple was on a state visit to Italy at the time, and although their original plans to meet with the church leader were canceled due to his recent health setbacks, they were able to briefly meet in private. Gifts were exchanged, and the Pope wished the King and Queen a happy 20th wedding anniversary, which fell on the same day as their meeting.
Following the news of the pontiff’s death on Easter Monday, the King released an official statement via Buckingham Palace.
“My wife and I were most deeply saddened to learn of the death of Pope Francis,” the monarch said. “Our heavy hearts have been somewhat eased, however, to know that His Holiness was able to share an Easter Greeting with the Church and the world he served with such devotion throughout his life and ministry.”
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“His Holiness will be remembered for his compassion, his concern for the unity of the Church and for his tireless commitment to the common causes of all people of faith, and to those of goodwill who work for the benefit of others,” King Charles continued his tribute. “His belief that care for Creation is an existential expression of faith in God resounded with so many across the world. Through his work and care for both people and planet, he profoundly touched the lives of so many.”
The British monarch also recalled his numerous visits to Pope Francis throughout the years, adding, “We were greatly moved to have been able to visit him earlier in the month.” The King and Queen’s first planned audience with His Holiness was called off due to the Pope’s health struggles. Weeks earlier, he’d spent 28 days in the hospital amid treatment for double pneumonia.
Just days before entering the hospital, Pope Francis reflected on old age and the “consoling certainty” of death in the preface for Awaiting a New Beginning: Reflections on Old Age by Cardinal Angelo Scola, Archbishop Emeritus of Milan.
“To say ‘old’ does not mean ‘to be discarded,’ as a degraded culture of waste sometimes leads us to think,” Francis wrote. “Saying ‘old’ instead means saying experience, wisdom, knowledge, discernment, thoughtfulness, listening, slowness.”
“It is true, one becomes old, but this is not the problem: the problem is how one becomes old. If we live this time of life as a grace, and not with resentment; if we accept the time (even a long one) in which we experience diminished strength, the increasing fatigue of the body, the reflexes no longer what they were in our youth — with a sense of gratitude and thankfulness — well then, old age too becomes an age of life which…is truly fruitful and capable of radiating goodness,” he added.
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