Katharine, the Duchess of Kent, has died. She was 92.
Buckingham Palace announced the news on Friday, Sept. 5, saying 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 statement continued. “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 organizations with which she was associated, her passion for music and her empathy for young people.”
The Duchess of Kent was born Katharine Worsley before marrying Queen Elizabeth’s cousin Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, in 1961. The couple went on to welcome three children: George, Earl of St. Andrews, Lady Helen Windsor and Lord Nicholas Windsor. (Katharine was also open about experiencing a miscarriage as well as giving birth to a stillborn son, later saying it had the “most devastating effect on me” and helped her understand others going through similar tragedies.)
The Duchess of Kent withdrew from royal duties in 1996, according to Royal Central. She then spent a decade teaching music at a primary school in Hull, where she went by Mrs. Kent.
“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,” she told BBC Radio 3 in 2005, The Times reported.
The Duchess of Kent took another step away from royal life in 2002 when she opted not to use the “Her Royal Highness” title any longer. Despite this, she has continued to attend certain events with the royals including Prince William and Kate Middleton’s 2011 wedding and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s 2018 nuptials. However, she was absent from Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in 2022 as well as King Charles’ coronation the following year.
The Duchess of Kent’s time teaching music made her realize that not all children have the financial support to pursue their passion, and in 2004, she founded the charity Future Talent. The organization partners with schools with the goals of “bringing music into the lives of all children, spotting talent, equipping talented children with instruments and tuition and, in exceptional cases, providing master tuition to enable them to make music their future,” according to her royal bio.
In addition to her work in music education, Katharine volunteered at the Passage Night Shelter, supported cancer hospitals and traveled the world with UNICEF.
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