(From left) Katherine, Duchess of Kent, Diana, Princess of Wales, and Prince William during the Women’s Singles Final at Wimbledon on July 2, 1994. (Source: AP)
Photo : AP
Katharine, Duchess of Kent, who combined decades of royal duty with the life as a schoolteacher, has died at 92, the Buckingham Palace announced on Friday.
The duchess “passed away peacefully last night at Kensington Palace, surrounded by her family,” the palace said in a statement. The flag at Buckingham Palace was lowered to half-staff.
Katharine, who married Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, in 1961, was the oldest member of the royal family and a first cousin by marriage to Queen Elizabeth II. She was a familiar presence at the Wimbledon tennis championships, where she presented trophies to winners. In 1993, she famously embraced a tearful Jana Novotna after the Czech player’s defeat. Five years later, she returned to hand Novotna the champion’s trophy.
“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 palace said.
Who was Katharine Worsley?
Born Katharine Worsley into a Yorkshire family, she became part of the royal household upon her marriage at York Minster, where Princess Anne served as a bridesmaid and Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles were among the congregation.
While she carried out a steady program of royal duties, the duchess also charted her own course. In 1994, she converted to Roman Catholicism, becoming the first member of the royal family to do so in more than 300 years. She described it as “a long-pondered personal decision” and was received into the church by Cardinal Basil Hume, then the Archbishop of Westminster.
In the mid-1990s, she stepped away from the formality of royal life, setting aside her HRH title and taking a part-time teaching post at Wansbeck Primary School in Hull. Known there simply as “Mrs. Kent,” she taught music for 13 years.