Britain’s Duchess of Kent, wife of Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent and cousin of the late Queen Elizabeth, has died at the age of 92, Buckingham Palace announced on Friday.
Born Katharine Worsley, she married Prince Edward in 1961 after meeting him during his military posting in northern England. She passed away peacefully on Thursday night at Kensington Palace, surrounded by her family.
In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: “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 Duchess is best remembered for her long association with Wimbledon, where from 1969 she presented trophies to champions. She famously comforted Jana Novotna after her heartbreaking singles final defeat in 1993, reassuring her that she would one day win the title—a prediction fulfilled in 1998.
Her ties with the tournament, however, soured in 1999 when she was denied permission to bring the young son of a bereaved friend into the Royal Box.
Beyond tennis, she made history in 1994 by converting to Roman Catholicism, becoming the first senior British royal to do so since King Charles II in 1685. The decision defied an early 18th-century law prohibiting royals from adopting the Catholic faith.
A mother of three and grandmother of ten, the Duchess was deeply passionate about music. Alongside supporting musical charities, she also spent several years teaching music at a school in Hull, northeast England.
