HRH The Duchess of Kent

8th September 2025 | Lieutenancy News

The Duchess of Kent, first cousin to The Late Queen, has died at the age of 92.

Katherine Worsley, the only daughter of a prominent Yorkshire land-owning family, married The Duke of Kent in 1961. She had lived apart for the Duke for some time and had been unwell in recent years, her life was one of committed public service, marked by compassion, warmth and care for people of all kinds.

With her husband she represented The Queen at the independence celebrations of Uganda, Guyana and Barbados in the 1960s. She was Chancellor of the University of Leeds from 1966 to 1999. She was a committed supporter of the work of UNICEF. She was patron of a large number of charities, particularly those concerned with her lifelong interests in music, children and cancer, and including the Samaritans, for whom she was an anonymous volunteer. She had a close association with the Wimbledon tennis championships. After she retired from royal duties in 2002, she taught music – an enduring love of her life – for many years to primary school children.

The Duchess of Kent devoted her life to the service of others, and in the words of one obituary ‘pioneered the art of royal empathy’. She was an outstanding example of the value and importance of compassionate dedication to working for the good of society.