Britain’s Duchess of Kent, known for her links to the Wimbledon tennis tournament and for anonymously teaching music at a primary school, has died aged 92, Buckingham Palace said on Friday.
The duchess, a talented pianist, organist and singer, was born Katharine Worsley into an aristocratic family in Yorkshire, northern England.
She was married in 1961 to Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, who is a first cousin of the late Queen Elizabeth II and remains, at 89, a working member of the royal family.
The couple led separate lives but did not divorce. They have three surviving children.
“It is with deep sorrow that Buckingham Palace announces the death of Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Kent,” the royal family said in a statement.
“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 life-long devotion to all the organisations with which she was associated, her passion for music and her empathy for young people,” it added.
The duchess, who converted to Catholicism in 1994, became the oldest living member of the royal family following the death of Elizabeth in September 2022.
For many years she presented the trophies to winners at Wimbledon, famously consoling the late Jana Novotna when the latter broke down after losing the ladies’ final to Steffi Graf in 1993.
She also made headlines when she spoke out about the severe depression she suffered following an abortion after contracting rubella while pregnant and a later stillbirth.
– Music teacher –
After scaling back her royal duties in 2002, she secretly taught music for 13 years at a state primary school in northeastern England where only the headteacher knew who she was.
“There was no publicity about it at all — it just seemed to work,” she told the Daily Telegraph in 2022.
The duchess died on Thursday evening at Kensington Palace in west London surrounded by members of her family, Buckingham Palace added.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said she had brought “compassion, dignity and a human touch to everything she did”.
“For many years, she was one of our hardest working royals –- supporting our late Queen Elizabeth II.
“Later, when it was discovered she had been giving her time and working anonymously as a music teacher at a school in Hull, it seemed typical of her unassuming nature,” he added.
The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, paid tribute to the duchess as “an advocate for children and young people’s welfare” who had “taught and encouraged generations of young musicians”.
The Union Jack flag at Buckingham Palace was lowered to half-mast at midday as a mark of respect.
har/jkb
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