1933
Katharine Lucy Mary Worsley is born in Yorkshire at Hovingham Hall on 22 February. She is the fourth child and only daughter of Sir William Worsley, 4th Baronet, and his wife, Joyce Morgan Brunner. She isn’t of royal descent, though her family are wealthy. Most notably her grandfather, John Brunner, founded the paint company that later became Imperial Chemical Industries.
1944
She grows up in York and starts boarding school aged 10 – first at St Margaret’s in York and later at Runton Hill in Norfolk. At Runton, the future Duchess takes up musical hobbies such as the piano and violin. She attempts to gain a place at the Royal Academy of Music but instead attends Miss Hubler’s Finishing School in Oxford. Even though she doesn’t have all the qualifications, her parents subsequently help her gain employment at an exclusive kindergarten.
1956
Aged 24 and a wealthy debutante, she meets Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, a grandson of George V. He has recently graduated from Sandhurst and is serving as an army officer at Catterick. However, their blossoming relationship is reportedly not approved of by Edward’s mother, Princess Marina, as Katharine is still considered a commoner despite her notable lineage.
1961
Katharine and Edward announce their engagement in March and marry a few months later in June at York Minster, the first royal wedding at the seventh-century building in 633 years. She wears a dress designed by John Cavanagh for the ceremony, accessorised with the Kent Diamond and Pearl Fringe Tiara. Guests include Queen Elizabeth II, European royals, and Hollywood figures such as Noël Coward and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
1962
Katharine gives birth to her first son, George, Earl of St Andrews in June. Shortly after his birth, as part of her duties as an army wife, she travels to Uganda with her husband to celebrate the country’s independence.
1964
Katharine gives birth to her daughter, Lady Helen Taylor, in April.
1970
She gives birth to another son, Lord Nicholas Windsor, in July.
1975
Katharine contracts German measles during her fourth pregnancy and suffers a miscarriage.
1977/8
During her fifth pregnancy, she gives birth to a stillborn son named Patrick, which leads to a period of depression. She is later hospitalised for several weeks due to “nervous strain” caused by the effects of the stillbirth. The BBC reports that she is suffering from coeliac disease and the Epstein-Barr virus, with symptoms resembling ME.
Twenty years later, she tells The Telegraph about the effect the ‘devastating’ experience had on her: “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.”
She even spoke out about her medical treatment, somewhat against the royal family’s tight-lipped rules: “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.”
1993
In footage that cements her kind and caring reputation, she comforts 25-year-old Jana Novotná after the Czech tennis player’s defeat by Steffi Graf in the Wimbledon women’s final.
1994
Katharine joins the Roman Catholic Church in January, becoming the first royal to do so since the passing of the Act of Settlement 1701. While the decision draws public attention, it does not affect the Duke of Kent’s place in the line of succession.
2002
She ceases using the title “Her Royal Highness” and is thereafter known as Katharine Kent or Katharine, Duchess of Kent. She spends the following 13 years working as a music teacher at Wansbeck Primary School in Kingston upon Hull, maintaining a low profile.
2004
She founds the charity Future Talent, aimed at giving children from low-income backgrounds the opportunity to engage in music.
2011
Katharine attends the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton alongside the Duke of Kent.
2016
She hosts a concert at Buckingham Palace as the founder of Future Talent and becomes an ambassador for the Samaritans.
2018
She attends the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in what is her last public appearance at a significant royal event. She appears happy though some remark that she looks frail.
2023
Katharine celebrates her 62nd wedding anniversary with Prince Edward. She joins him at St James’s Palace, where a portrait of her is unveiled by her daughter, Lady Helen Taylor. In the evening, musicians from Future Talent perform.
2024
She makes her final public appearance celebrating her husband’s 89th birthday and is photographed watching a performance by three pipers from the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. She is seen sitting in a wheelchair, wrapped in a blue blanket, while her husband watches the pipers beside her.
2025
On September 4, the Duchess of Kent dies “peacefully” and “surrounded by her family” aged 92 at Kensington Palace, according to an official royal family statement.
Prince William and Princess Kate describe the Duchess as a “much-missed member of the family” who worked “tirelessly to help others and [support] many causes, including through her love of music.”
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