Duchess of Kent dead at 92 as Buckingham Palace issues emotional statement

The Duchess of Kent has died at the age of 92, Buckingham Palace has announced.

The wife of the Duke of Kent, a cousin of the late Queen, was last seen in public in October alongside her husband in a wheelchair. Since the death of the late Queen, she had been the Royal Family's oldest member but in recent years made very few public appearances and did not attend the former monarch's funeral or King Charles ' Coronation in May 2023.

When she married Edward, the Duke of Kent, in 1961, she became a well-known face at royal events - including Wimbledon - but as she entered her older years, her life became very different - dropping her HRH style and becoming a low-key music teacher.

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Buckingham Palace said that the Duchess of Kent died on late Thursday evening. The Palace said in a statement: "It is with deep sorrow that Buckingham Palace announces the death of Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Kent.

"Her Royal Highness passed away peacefully last night at Kensington Palace, surrounded by her family.

"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."

The union flag at Buckingham Palace was lowered to half mast at midday as a mark of respect and a formal framed announcement was posted on the railings of the royal residence.

The duchess will be expected to have a Catholic funeral, attended by senior royals including the King and Queen. It will be the first Catholic funeral service held for a member of the royal family in modern British history.

The King, who is at Balmoral, was informed on Thursday night and other members of the royal family were also told of the news. Charles has approved that royal mourning will take place until and including the day of the duchess’s funeral.

Members of the royal family and household staff will dress in black in honour of the duchess during the mourning period. Those in Livery, the Royal Mews and Troops on Public Duties will wear black armbands.

Royal households will consider the format and tone of engagements during the mourning period, but it is likely some official engagements will continue.

The Duchess was born Katharine Lucy Mary Worsley on February 22, 1933, in Yorkshire to Sir William Worsley and his wife Joyce, the youngest of their four children. She grew up in Hovingham Hall near York and during her school years developed a love of music, learning how to play the piano, organ, and violin.

She tried to enter the Royal Academy of Music but failed and instead worked in nurseries in York and London. In 1956, she first crossed paths with the Duke of Kent, who at the time was in the Armed Forces and stationed at Catterick Garrison in Yorkshire - and romance eventually blossomed.

Five years after their first meeting, the couple announced their engagement, and they married in the wedding of the year in June 1961 at York Minster. The venue was a break in tradition from Westminster Abbey, but Katharine was keen to marry there, describing herself as a "Yorkshire lass".

The bride wore a showstopping dress alongside the distinctive Kent Diamond and Pearl Fringe Tiara. The groom's best man was his brother, Prince Michael of Kent, while Princess Anne acted as one of the bridesmaids.

After tying the knot, the couple then had three children together - George, Earl of St Andrews, Lady Helen Taylor, and Lord Nicholas Windsor. The Kents then threw themselves into public life - representing the late Queen at both home and abroad.

She became widely acclaimed for her dress sense, and the duchess was named the “world’s best dressed woman” on several occasions and was once spotted in London’s Oxford Street in a miniskirt. But she was naturally shy and once admitted she had never gained confidence.

“It is one of the reasons I am always trying to boost other people’s self-esteem, because I know what it’s like not to have it,” she said.

However, in the 1970s, the Duchess suffered two devastating losses of a child and later spoke out about how it affected her mental health. In 1975, she had an abortion after contracting rubella while pregnant, which can harm the unborn child. Two years later, she gave birth to a stillborn son called Patrick.

It came after her fifth month of pregnancy, while the duke was away in Iran, complications developed. The duchess was admitted to hospital and her husband flew back to be at her bedside. Despite the efforts of doctors, the baby died.

Their stillborn son was christened Patrick and laid to rest, but the shadow of his death was said to have never left the duchess. It prompted her to withdraw from public life for a short time and in 1997, she movingly spoke about how the loss sparked severe depression.

She told the Telegraph: "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."

After a spell in hospital for treatment, the Duchess returned to royal duties and during the 1980s and 90s, she became well-known for presenting the trophies to the winners at Wimbledon - a job now done by the Princess of Wales. In 1993, she memorably hugged a sobbing Jana Novotna, who was beaten in the ladies' singles final by Steffi Graf.

However, the duchess later became disenchanted with the Wimbledon authorities when, in 1999, she was refused permission to take the young son of murdered headmaster Philip Lawrence into the royal box. In subsequent years, when she no doubt used her influence to discontinue the practice of players bowing or curtsying to royals – except the late Queen and the then-Prince of Wales – she preferred to sit in public areas.

In 1994, the Duchess raised eyebrows when she became a member of the Catholic Church after receiving the approval of the late Queen.

Her decision was significant as at the time, the Act of Settlement of 1701 removed anyone who married a Catholic from the line of succession. However, her husband, the Duke of Kent, was not removed, as his wife only converted to the church after they wed.

In an interview with the BBC, the Duchess explained her decision, saying: "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!"

In 2002, Katharine decided to step back completely from royal duties, telling the late Queen she would no longer use her HRH title - but rather than retire, the Duchess took up a low-key job.

She became a music teacher at Wansbeck Primary School in Hull, where she was simply known as Mrs Kent. She told The Telegraph in 2022: "Only the head knew who I was. The parents didn’t know, and the pupils didn’t know. No one ever noticed. There was no publicity about it at all - it just seemed to work." In the same interview, she professed her love for music and even admitted listening to the likes of boyband Blue and rappers Eminem and Ice Cube.

She also taught part-time in a school attended by children who lived in Grenfell Tower and in 2018 attended a memorial service at the base of the high-rise building to mark the first anniversary of the fire which claimed 72 lives.

The duchess also volunteered for the Samaritans, toured countries as a Unicef ambassador and, in 2004, founded the charity Future Talent. The organisation, whose ambassadors include the musician Sting, works to break down barriers and give children from low-income backgrounds equal opportunities to excel in music by helping with the purchase of instruments and funding of music lessons.

Her public appearances became few and far between after this although - she attended Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding in 2018. She was not at the late Queen's funeral in 2022 or King Charles' Coronation in 2023.

She faced a number of other health issues including a recurrent gallbladder problem, treatment for an ovarian cyst, and the Epstein-Barr virus with symptoms resembling those of ME or chronic fatigue syndrome.

She was last seen in public last October at an event to mark the 89th birthday of her husband, when he was serenaded with Happy Birthday on the bagpipes outside the entrance of their Kensington Palace home, Wren House.