The Duchess of Kent has died aged 92. Photo / Getty Images
The Prince and Princess of Wales have hailed the Duchess of Kent’s work in “tirelessly” helping others and said she will be a “much missed member of the family”.
The couple led tributes to the Duchess following her death, aged 92, at Kensington Palace on Thursday night.
Buckingham Palace announced the news on Friday as the Royal family joined the Duke of Kent, his children and grandchildren in mourning.
Union flags were lowered to half-mast at royal residences. The funeral is expected to take place at Westminster Cathedral in the coming weeks.
Once known to the press as “Caring Kate”, she was loved for her empathetic approach to royal duty and her openness about her physical and mental health in an era when that was still largely taboo.
She was the first member of the Royal family to publicly convert to Catholicism in more than 300 years.
However, she is best known for hugging the tennis player Jana Novotna after her defeat to Steffi Graf in the 1993 Wimbledon final, which was seen as groundbreaking for its relatability and common touch at the time.
Those closest to her described how the Duchess had no interest in the titles and trappings of royal life but simply wanted to “do good work”.
While she had “absolute respect” for the monarchy and the Royal family, she was not motivated by fame or fortune.
Sue Ayton, 74, who worked closely with her for more than two decades, paid a warm tribute to a principled, compassionate woman who loved fashion and had a wonderful sense of humour. But it was the Duchess’s passion for music that really lit her up.
In 2004, the Duchess co-founded Future Talent, a charity that supports gifted young musicians from low-income backgrounds. In promoting music and helping the underprivileged, it combined two of her great passions.
“When she started her charity, she rolled up her sleeves and just got on with it,” Ayton told the Telegraph.
“She stuffed envelopes, made calls. She was compassionate and fun, she worked so hard.
“She took such pride in that work. She always said the children walked tall when they started taking music lessons.”
When the Duchess decided in 2002 that she wanted to drop her HRH title and teach music in a state school, she was “so courageous”, Ayton added.
“She went to the Queen who gave her permission to follow her dream.
“She had absolute respect for the Royal family and the monarchy but she tried as hard as possible to lead a normal life and do good work – that’s all she wanted to do.
“She worked so hard at all her exams, she was so committed. She commuted to Hull from London by train every week to teach and she insisted on being called Katharine Kent. I don’t think anyone realised who she was.”
Buckingham Palace announced “with deep sorrow” the Duchess’s death at midday on Friday.
A statement said: “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 lifelong devotion to all the organisations with which she was associated, her passion for music and her empathy for young people.”
Two hours later, the Prince and Princess posted their own tribute online: “Our thoughts today are with The Duke of Kent and his family, particularly George, Helen and Nicholas,” they said.
“The Duchess worked tirelessly to help others and supported many causes, including through her love of music.
“She will be a much missed member of the family. W & C.”
The Duchess called herself a “Yorkshire lass”, and was described by the Telegraph in 2022 as “the original royal rebel with a cause”.
Born Katharine Worsley on February 22, 1933 in Hovingham Hall, Yorkshire, she was the fourth child and only daughter of Sir William Worsley, 4th Baronet, Lord-lieutenant of North Riding and president of the Marylebone Cricket Club, and his wife Joyce Morgan Brunner.
She met the Duke of Kent, the late Queen’s cousin also known as Prince Edward, at a party in the late 1950s when he was stationed at Catterick. They married at York Minster in June 1961.
The couple went on to have three surviving children: George Windsor, Earl of St Andrews; Lady Helen Taylor; and Lord Nicholas Windsor. They have 10 grandchildren.
In 1975, the Duchess was compelled to have a medical termination after contracting German measles when pregnant.
She gave birth to a stillborn son, Patrick, at full term and was treated for “nervous strain” over seven weeks at the King Edward VII hospital in London.
“It had the most devastating effect on me,” she told the Telegraph in 1997. “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.”
In 1996, while preparing for a working trip to India, she was found to have suspected Epstein-Barr virus, with symptoms resembling those of Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). She was later diagnosed as coeliac.
Nevertheless, the Duchess was exasperated by media coverage of her health and personal traumas.
In 1997, she said: “If I were to climb Mount Everest, which is unlikely, they would inevitably say it was ‘despite the fact that she suffered from acute depression and permanent ill health’.”
Ayton concurred: “For years she was portrayed as a sad recluse but it just couldn’t have been further from the truth. She was not like that at all. She didn’t like being defined by that.
“She was really, really funny. She had such a lovely sense of humour and always made me laugh.
“She loved fashion – she was so elegant – and she loved all kinds of music, it was so important to her. She played the piano and the organ, she loved the organ.”
Ayton continued: “She worked in homeless shelters and hospices and it was only when she got older and frailer she had to stop. But she had huge energy and commitment.
“People use the word inspiration a lot but it really did apply to her, she just got on with things quietly and she worked hard. She didn’t want publicity – only if it benefited her charity.”
The Duchess was a long-serving supporter of Unicef and spent five years volunteering for the Samaritans after becoming a patron of the charity in 1977.
She spent time looking after sick pilgrims at Lourdes, washing and feeding them as well as washing the floors.
In later life, she withdrew from public engagements with the Royal family, although she did attend royal weddings with her husband.
The Duchess was created a Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO) in 1977, the highest personal recognition for personal services to the monarch.
In 1994, she was received into the Roman Catholic Church, the first member of the Royal family to do so since 1685.
In an interview with the Telegraph in 1997, she spoke about the loss of baby Patrick and how throwing herself back into royal duties may have been a mistake.
“I don’t think I gave myself time to get over it,” she said. “Probably I didn’t grieve properly.”
Of her seven weeks in hospital in 1979 for “treatment and supervised rest”, she said: “I am not ashamed of that patch at all. It was not a good period, but once I’d come out and returned to a sense of reality, I quickly realised that, awful as it was, it does happen to a lot of people.”
The Duchess was deeply affected by her working visits to Third World countries.
She remained a friend and confidante to both Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, after their divorce.
Her last working entry in the court circular was on June 8, 2023, when she held a reception and concert at St James’s Palace to celebrate the work of the charity Future Talent.
“She was very frail but she just wanted to be there to see the young musicians,” Ayton said.
“When they came up to her, her face just lit up. She just came alive.”
In her final interview, with the Telegraph’s Camilla Tominey, she revealed she was a fan of gangster rap, listening to Eminem and Ice Cube but not Kanye West.
The Duchess is survived by her husband, the Duke of Kent, and their three children.
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