Iconic Global Magazine Iconic Global Magazine is a global media company, focusing on business, investing, technology, entrepreneurship, leadership, and lifestyle.
Related Articles
PRINCE Andrew and Fergie have been spotted driving to the Duchess of Kent’s funeral after Queen Camilla was forced to pull out due to illness.
Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson looked sombre as they drove from Royal Lodge in Windsor to Westminster Cathedral with a police escort.
6
6
6
Earlier today, the palace announced Queen Camilla could not attend as the 78-year-old is recovering from a sinus infection.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “With great regret, Her Majesty The Queen has withdrawn from attendance at this afternoon’s Requiem Mass for The Duchess of Kent as she is recovering from acute sinusitis.
“Her thoughts and prayers will be with The Duke of Kent and all the family.”
The Duke of Kent has been informed, and is said to fully understand Camilla’s decision, and has sent his best wishes for a speedy recovery.
The Queen travelled down from Scotland this morning and is currently en route to Windsor to rest.
Camilla, 78, had been due join to the King and other members of the royal family at the farewell to the duchess at Westminster Cathedral in London this afternoon.
Katharine – wife to the late Queen’s cousin Prince Edward and the oldest living member of the Royal Family at 92 – died earlier this month surrounded by her close family.
The Duchess had rarely been seen at official engagements in recent years after stepping back from royal duties more than two decades ago.
But she once drew global acclaim for her moving public display of royal warmth at Wimbledon.
In 1993, she hugged sobbing tennis player Jana Novotná after her 1993 Wimbledon final loss.
She always insisted that the cuddle was nothing special, saying of the Royal Family: “We are quite normal people.”
Born Katharine Worsley in 1933, she grew up in North Yorkshire at Hovingham Hall, the grand ancestral home of her father, Sir William Worsley.
A statement from the Royal Family said: “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 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 Duke of Sussex also sent his condolences privately to the Duchess of Kent’s family.
A tribute from the Prince and Princess of Wales said: “Our thoughts today are with The Duke of Kent and his family, particularly George, Helen and Nicholas.
“The Duchess worked tirelessly to help others and supported many causes, including through her love of music.
“She will be a much missed member of the family.”
6
6
Duchess of Kent was the quiet rebel who loved rap music and gave up royal life for normal job
Eleanor Sprawson
IT was a very modern fairytale . . . a royal who quit her life of tiaras and titles to follow her true love – teaching children – at a primary school in Hull.
For 13 years from the 1990s, the incognito Katharine, Duchess of Kent was known simply as Mrs Kent — her pupils and fellow teachers having no clue about her real identity.
She said: “No one ever noticed.
“There was no publicity about it at all.
“It just seemed to work.”
The Duchess, who has died age 92, loved it so much that after the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire she returned to the classroom, teaching at a nearby West London primary school to help children who had lost their homes and loved ones.
Again, nobody noticed, and she never spoke of it.
It was only revealed when her husband the Duke of Kent mentioned it in his 2022 memoirs.
Since Queen Elizabeth died three years ago, the Duchess had been the oldest member of the Royal Family.
She was also, very quietly, a revolutionary who answered phones at the Samaritans, became the first royal since 1685 to convert to Catholicism — and the first to wear a mini skirt.
The Duchess also gave one of the most moving public displays of royal warmth, when she hugged sobbing Czech tennis player Jana Novotna after her 1993 Wimbledon final loss.
But she always insisted that the cuddle was nothing special, saying of the Royal Family: “We are quite normal people.”
Katharine Lucy Mary Worsley was born on February 22, 1933, to baronet Sir William and baronet’s daughter Joyce, and was the eight-times great-granddaughter of Oliver Cromwell.
Kate — as she was always known to family and friends — grew up at the family’s stately home in North Yorkshire, Hovingham Hall.
As a child she had no formal education apart from piano lessons, and was otherwise left to roam wild, later saying: “I had lovely trusting parents.”
She finally started school aged ten, by which time she was a gifted pianist, and in 2011 she recalled: “When I was a child, I was always going to be a musician.”
But at 16 she failed to get into the Royal Academy of Music, which she called “one of my big disappointments”, and instead was sent to finishing school in Oxford.
There she continued her music studies, still convinced “music would be my life”.
