The Duchess of Kent, Katharine, has died at the age of 92, Buckingham Palace confirmed. She passed away peacefully on Thursday evening at her Kensington Palace home, surrounded by her family. The duchess was married to the Duke of Kent, the late Queen Elizabeth II's cousin, but had lived a separate life from him for decades.
Born Katharine Lucy Mary Worsley on 22 February 1933, she married Edward, Duke of Kent, in a grand ceremony at York Minster in 1961. She was known for her elegant style and her role presenting trophies at Wimbledon, where her husband served as president of the All England Club for over 30 years. One of her most memorable moments came in 1993 when she comforted a distraught Jana Novotná after the tennis player lost the women's singles final.
In 1994, the duchess became the first member of the royal family in over 300 years to convert to Catholicism. She dropped her HRH title in 2002 and stepped back from public life, preferring to be known as Katharine or Mrs Kent. She later taught music at a state primary school in Hull and volunteered for Samaritans, as well as serving as a Unicef ambassador. In 2004, she founded Future Talent, a charity supporting children from low-income backgrounds in music.
The palace statement said: 'The king and queen and all members of the royal family join the Duke of Kent, his children and grandchildren in mourning their loss and remembering fondly the duchess’s lifelong devotion to all the organisations with which she was associated, her passion for music and her empathy for young people.' Her funeral is expected to take place at Westminster Cathedral, likely presided over by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, marking the first Catholic funeral service for a royal in modern British history.
