Queen Elizabeth's cousin, Duchess of Kent Katharine, dies aged 92

Katharine, Duchess of Kent, has passed away, Buckingham Palace sadly announced on September 5. She was 92.

In an official statement released on Friday, with flags on royal residences lowered to half-mast, the Palace wrote:

“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 went on:

"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 date of the Duchess of Kent's funeral remains undisclosed, and it is still uncertain whether members of the Royal Family will be in attendance due to a busy schedule, with President Donald Trump's forthcoming state visit.

Who was Katharine, Duchess of Kent? A quick glimpse at the late royal

Born as Katharine Worsley in Yorkshire in 1933, the late Duchess was the oldest member of the Royal Family.

A music aficionado, the Duchess of Kent taught music in a primary school, where students only knew her as "Mrs. Kent" and not her royal identity. In an exclusive interview with The Telegraph in 2022, she revealed:

"I was just known as 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 also supported music charities, one of which was Future Talent, which she co-founded to assist children from low-income families to pursue music careers.

In 1961, she married Prince Edward, the late Queen Elizabeth II's first cousin, whom she first met when the Duke of Kent was residing in a military base. The couple had three children: Helen, George, and Nicholas.

In 1977, she experienced the heartbreaking loss of a stillborn son, which resulted in a deep depression. She opened up about it twenty years later.

"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."

The Duchess, with the late Queen's approval, converted to Catholicism in 1994, which made her the first member of the Royal Family to convert since 1701.

Katharine gave up her royal title in 2002 and has lived at Wren House since. In an interview, she shared:

"I've always… worked isn’t the right word but I’ve always been busy, always got something to do—whether it’s something to do with music or charity. I like being busy!"

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