The Duchess of Kent, born Katharine Lucy Mary Worsley in 1933, married Prince Edward—Queen Elizabeth II’s cousin—in 1961. Together they have three children: George, Earl of St Andrews, Lady Helen Taylor, and Lord Nicholas Windsor, as well as ten grandchildren.

For many years, the Duchess was a prominent working royal, attending significant events such as the Ugandan independence celebrations and the 1967 coronation of the King of Tonga. But in 2002, she made the decision to stop using the title ‘Her Royal Highness’ to allow herself greater personal freedom.

Remarkably, she maintained such a low profile that she quietly taught music at Wansbeck Primary School in Hull for 13 years—all while still technically part of the Royal Family. After a visit to the school in 1996, she offered to help enhance its arts curriculum, and from there, her passion for teaching took off.

Though she has attended family milestones, like the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in 2018, she hasn’t participated in an official engagement since Trooping the Colour in 2013.

The Duchess was notably absent from Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral and committal services in 2022, as well as from King Charles’s Coronation in 2023.

Her most recent public appearance came in 2024, when she was photographed as the Duke of Kent received a tribute from three pipers of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards on his 89th birthday, outside their home at Wren House on the grounds of Kensington Palace.