Britain's Sophie, Countess of Wessex is to attend the reinterment service for Richard III.
Sophie, Countess of Wessex
The 50-year-old royal is to attend the reburial of the former King - whose body was found in a car park in Leicester two years ago - without her husband Prince Edward, who has prior engagements.
Richard III - who was the last of the Plantagenet monarchs - will be laid to rest at Leicester Cathedral on March 26.
Countess Sophie will be joined by her mother-in-law the Queen's cousin, the Duke of Gloucester, who holds the same title as Richard did before he was crowned King.
Although a spokesman for the royal family has confirmed to the Daily Mail newspaper that Sophie and Prince Richard will be "attending", it is claimed they will not be representing the Queen.
It is believed the 88-year-old monarch cannot be seen commemorating the former King's death in any official capacity as if he hadn't passed away during battle over 600 hundred years ago, she would never have become Queen.
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