A ROYAL expert has revealed the real reason Prince William is going to the Pope's funeral and not King Charles.
William will travel to the Vatican ahead of theon Saturday, joining world leaders such as US Presidentand France's President.
Catholics around the world have been after he , following .
And King Charles and hadjust 12 days before he died, during a state visit to the Vatican.
But the monarch will not be attending the pontiff's this weekend.
However, it is not unusual for the heir rather than the monarch to attend funerals as the then-Prince Charles led the UK delegation to Pope John Paul II's funeral in 2005.
Royal expert Hugo Vickers confirmed this when he spoke to Matt Wilkinson on our show.
“Well that's all protocol. I mean the Pope didn't come to ‘s funeral as you remember and actually Prince Charles went to the last, not Pope Benedict, Pope John Paul II's funeral.
“He actually even postponed his service of blessing by a day. would you remember 20 years ago.
“It's absolutely correct that it would be the Prince of Wales who goes. so I'm not at all surprised.
“The King doesn't go to those sort of funerals.”
And Hugo was firm in his belief that the Prince of Wales was “absolutely the right guy” for the job.
The royal biographer said: “He represented us very well at the re-consecration of Notre Dame Cathedral and it's very good that he should go there.
“He might even have another chat with President Trump who I understand is also going to be present.
“We have seen him step up and be deputised in such a strong way for because obviously with the King's battles last year, even though that's not the reason for this one, he has had to step up a lot and I do think he's doing it very well while juggling family life.”
Quizzed on whether Kate would join Wills, Hugo added: “Again it's protocol. William is the one who's going. He is representing the King. So it would be unusual if a couple went.”
In December 2023, the Prince of Wales flew to Kuwait to pay condolences following the death of Emir Sheikh Nawaf.
Charles was forced to postpone his wedding to Camilla for a week after the funeral fell on the day of his planned civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall.
Sources close to William point out his growing roles as a “global statesman”.
Last December, Wills travelled to to meet Donald Trump who hailed the prince as “a good man” who is doing a “fantastic job”.
William will be back to join Kate on the Isle of Mull, in , for a string of engagements on Tuesday and Wednesday next week, which also falls on their 14th wedding anniversary.
had been hospitalised for weeks at the Gemelli hospital in Rome after .
Following a 38-day stay at the centre, he was discharged on March 23, giving him time to recover and .
However, just hours later, officials in the Holy See announced the leader of the Catholic Church had passed away.
A death certificate released by the Vatican stated Pope Francis died after suffering a cerebral stroke which led to a coma and irreversible heart failure.
Following his death, the Italian government officially declared five days of national mourning, running up until his funeral on Saturday.
Plans are currently underway in the Vatican for the pontiff's “humble” ceremony, after more than 12 years of him leading the Catholic church and its 1.4 billion followers.
His funeral is set to take place on Saturday morning in St Peter’s Square in Vatican City in , with the service scheduled to begin at 10am local time.
It will be led by the dean of the College of Cardinals – Giovanni Battista Re – ahead of the Pope's burial in a in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major.
World leaders such as Prime Minister , US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Ukrainian President will be in attendance.
European Commission President and European Council President António Costa are also expected to attend.
Many nations are likely to send heads of state or government to take part in the historic and rare event.
