THE Duchess of Kent has passed away aged 92.
Katharine – wife to the late Queen’s cousin Prince Edward – was the oldest living member of the Royal Family.
Katharine, Duchess of Kent, has passed away[/caption]
Katharine attends a gala pre-wedding dinner in 2011[/caption]
The Duke and Duchess of Kent attend a service for Grenfell Tower in 2018[/caption]
The Duchess in 1982[/caption]
The Duchess of Kent attends a service of celebration to mark the 60th anniversary of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II[/caption]
Katherine has rarely been seen at official engagements in recent years after stepping back from royal duties more than two decades ago.
But she once drew global acclaim for her moving public display of royal warmth at Wimbledon.
In 1993, she hugged sobbing tennis player Jana Novotná after her 1993 Wimbledon final loss.
She always insisted that the cuddle was nothing special, saying of the Royal Family: “We are quite normal people.”
Today, Buckingham Palace tragically confirmed Katherine has passed away.
In a statement, the palace said:
Born Katharine Worsley in 1933, she grew up in North Yorkshire at Hovingham Hall, the grand ancestral home of her father, Sir William Worsley.
While her upbringing was aristocratic, her family roots are far from traditionally royal.
In 1957 – aged just 23 – Katharine met Prince Edward, Duke of Kent at a ball while he was serving in the army.
The duke – the son of King George VI’s brother – was stationed at Catterick in North Yorkshire, about 30 miles from Kate’s home, and was soon visiting regularly.
Katharine got engaged to Prince Edward before tying the knot at York Minster on June 8, 1961 – in what was the first royal wedding there in over 600 years.
The guest list featured a host of famous faces including Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, Prince Philip, a young Prince Charles and Princess Anne, who was a flower girl.
And it wasn’t just the British royals who turned out, with European royalty from Denmark, Greece and the Netherlands also making the trip.
The couple spent their honeymoon in Majorca, before celebrating the birth of their first child the following year.
The Duchess attended day eleven of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in 2017[/caption]
The Duke and Duchess during the 2022 Trooping the Colour celebrations[/caption]
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent getting married in 1961[/caption]
George, Earl of St Andrews, arrived in 1962 and was followed by Lady Helen in 1964, with Lord Nicholas born six years after that.
She also has ten grandchildren, including model Lady Amelia Windsor.
Katharine quickly became a popular figure with the public after her marriage – with her regularly named the best-dressed woman in the world.
From 1969, Katherine became synonymous with Wimbledon, presenting trophies with her husband – the President of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club – on Centre Court.
The duchess also made headlines when she was snapped on London’s Oxford Street in a mini skirt.
Just one year after the birth of her son Nicholas in 1970, Katherine became patron of the Samaritans and – without publicity – did the training and worked answering telephones every Wednesday.
She later said the experience “taught me an enormous amount about life.”
The royal added: “If you’re going to spend quite a few months talking to people who are suicidal, mainly through loneliness, you do begin to understand people and their problems.”
Her own darkest days were still to come.
In 1975, aged 42, the Duchess had an abortion because of German measles. In 1977, she gave birth to a stillborn son, Patrick.
Katherine told The Daily Telegraph in 1997: “It had the most devastating effect on me.
“I had no idea how devastating such a thing could be to any woman.
“It has made me extremely understanding of others who suffer a stillbirth.”
She had further health issues in 1978, when, after 20 years of public service, she was hospitalised due to “nervous strain.”
The BBC claimed she suffered from coeliac disease, Epstein-Barr virus, and had symptoms of chronic fatigue.
The Duchess of Kent converted to Catholicism in 1994 – a move which would previously have led to swift exile for centuries of English royal history.
Thankfully, she received the approval of the late Queen and has said it was a personal decision.
At the time, the Act Of Settlement 1701 stated that a royal who married a Catholic would have their right to the throne dissolved.
However, this didn’t apply to Prince Edward as Katharine was an Anglican at the time of marriage, and then converted.
Explaining her decision, she told the BBC: “I do love guidelines and the Catholic Church offers you guidelines.
“I have always wanted that in my life. I like to know what’s expected of me.
“I like being told: You shall go to church on Sunday and if you don’t you’re in for it!”
Then, on an official visit to Wansbeck Primary School on an estate in Hull, one of the teachers mentioned there was no music teacher.
The duchess – who had a life-long passion for music, especially loving the rap stylings of Eminem and Ice Cube – volunteered.
For the next 13 years, the royal took a train to Hull every Friday to teach the subject she loved – and ever only missed two days.
She said in 2022: “I was just known as Mrs Kent. Only the head knew who I was. The parents didn’t know and the pupils didn’t know.”
In 2002, in the midst of this new life, she dropped her title of “Her Royal Highness” and withdrew further from royal duties.
Instead she threw herself into setting up her own charity, Future Talent, which provides cash and mentorship to help gifted children develop their musical talent.
She last appeared in public in 2024 on her husband’s birthday[/caption]
The royal couple arriving to celebrate the Queens Diamond Jubilee in London in 2012[/caption]
Katharine, Duchess of Kent, Rajinder Singh MBE, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Princess Kate at Wimbledon in 2021[/caption]
A young Prince William and Prince Harry stand with Princess Beatrice and the Duchess of Kent as they leave St. George’s Chapel[/caption]
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