William and Kate pay personal tribute to Duchess of Kent after death aged 92

The Prince and Princess of Wales have paid a personal tribute to the Duchess of Kent, praising her for working “tirelessly to help others” and describing her as a “much missed member of the family”.

The King, Queen and the royal family are in mourning for Katharine, the wife of the late Queen’s cousin the Duke of Kent, who died peacefully at home, surrounded by her close family, late on Thursday night.

Union flags were lowered to half-mast at Buckingham Palace and at royal residences around the country where the monarch is not in residence as a mark of respect.

A formal framed notice announcing the duchess’s death was placed on the railings of the Palace shortly after midday on Friday, and the King has approved a period of Royal Mourning until and including the day of the duchess’s funeral, with the date to be announced in due course.

In a message on Kensington Palace’s official social media accounts, William and Kate wrote: “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.”

The message was signed “W & C”.

The Duke of Sussex sent his condolences privately to the duchess’s family.

The duchess was known for consoling losing Wimbledon finalists, notably a tearful Jana Novotna in 1993, and presented trophies at the championships for many years.

She preferred to be known as Mrs Kent and dropped her HRH style, retreating from royal life to spend more than a decade secretly teaching music in a state primary school in Hull.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer sent his condolences, saying: “For many years, she was one of our hardest-working royals – supporting our late Queen Elizabeth II in her official duties at home and abroad.

“She brought compassion, dignity and a human touch to everything she did. Many will remember that moment at the Wimbledon Ladies Final, when she touchingly comforted the runner-up, Jana Novotna.

“Later, when it was discovered she had been giving her time and working anonymously as a music teacher at a school in Hull, it seemed typical of her unassuming nature.”

He added: “In so many ways, the duchess sought to help. My thoughts are with her husband, His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent, her family and all those whose lives she touched.”

Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell paid tribute to the duchess, who was proud of her Yorkshire heritage and was awarded the freedom of the city of York, as “an advocate for children and young people’s welfare”, and someone who had “taught and encouraged generations of young musicians”.

Dame Esther Rantzen also praised the duchess, who she came to know thanks to her support of Childline, saying: “She was beautiful, she was elegant, and above all, she was empathetic and kind.”

She added: “She was also a star. I mean, she had real glamour so when she attended one of our events, it made it special.”

Dame Esther suggested the duchess had “sacrificed herself” to help other people and that she found her royal role challenging.

“She was an amazing woman … I think that her royal role was quite a challenge for her because she was quite a shy person and she had her share of illnesses, but, I could tell, I think she sacrificed herself for the sake of others,” Dame Esther said.

The Palace announced the duchess’s death “with deep sadness” in an official statement under a black royal crest, and praised her “life-long” devotion to her charities and empathy for young people.

“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 Palace said.

The King, who is staying at Balmoral in Aberdeenshire, was informed late on Thursday of news of the duchess’s death.

Members of the royal family and household staff will wear clothing which pays appropriate tribute during the mourning period, such as black ties or elements of black in their outfit, in honour of the duchess.

Those in livery, the Royal Mews and Troops on Public Duties will wear black armbands.

Royal households will consider the format and tone of engagements during the mourning period, but it is likely some official engagements will continue.

The duchess, who became the oldest member of the royal family following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, made a rare appearance in October 2024 when she was pictured in a wheelchair for the first time.

Wrapped in a blue shawl, she joined her husband outside their Kensington Palace home, Wren House, to watch bagpipers play Happy Birthday on the day he turned 89.

A devout follower of the Roman Catholic faith, the duchess became the first member of the royal family to convert to Catholicism for more than 300 years, doing so in 1994.

She will, according to her wishes, have a Catholic funeral, which is expected to be attended by senior royals which could include the King and Queen.

It will be the first Catholic funeral service held for a member of the royal family in modern British history.

The funeral is expected to take place at Westminster Cathedral in the coming weeks, and it is thought likely that the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols – the leader of Catholics in England and Wales – will preside over the mass.

Harry is returning to the UK for the annual WellChild Awards on Monday, but it is not yet known whether he will still be in London for the duchess’s funeral, which at its earliest would be expected to take place in a week’s time, and whether or not he will attend alongside the royal family.

He will continue with his engagements next week as planned, it is understood.

The duchess volunteered for the Samaritans, toured countries as a Unicef ambassador and, in 2004, founded the charity Future Talent.

The organisation, whose ambassadors include the musician Sting, works to break down barriers and give children from low-income backgrounds equal opportunities to excel in music by helping with the purchase of instruments and funding of music lessons.

The duchess – a skilled pianist, organist and singer – secretly began teaching music at state primary schools in East Yorkshire and Hammersmith, west London.

After visiting Wansbeck Primary School in Hull in 1996, she offered to help with music teaching and gave a weekly 40-minute lesson, as well as working with its choir, spending 13 years at the school.

The Yorkshire-born duchess said: “I love those children, I loved being there and I love East Hull. I wouldn’t have stayed there for 13 years if I hadn’t.”

She also taught part-time in a school attended by children who lived in Grenfell Tower and in 2018 attended a memorial service at the base of the high-rise building to mark the first anniversary of the fire which claimed 72 lives.

Born Katharine Lucy Mary Worsley on February 22 1933, she had an aristocratic upbringing as the only daughter of landowner Colonel Sir William Worsley – a baronet – and Lady Worsley of Hovingham Hall, near York.

She married King George V’s grandson Edward, Duke of Kent, dubbed Steady Eddie by the royal family for his dependable service, in a grand ceremony in York Minster in 1961 and became known for her elegant fashion style.

The pair have three surviving children, George, Earl of St Andrews, Lady Helen Windsor, and Lord Nicholas Windsor.

The duchess suffered heartbreak after catching German measles while pregnant in 1975, forcing her to have a termination, and then two years later she endured the devastation of giving birth to a stillborn son, Patrick.

She went on to suffer from depression and nervous strain, and also faced a number of other health issues including a recurrent gallbladder problem, treatment for an ovarian cyst, and the Epstein-Barr virus with symptoms resembling those of ME or chronic fatigue syndrome.

Her appearance at Wimbledon to present winners’ trophies became a familiar feature of the summer sporting calendar and she was famed for offering support to disappointed runners-up.

She put aside royal formalities in 1993, hugging a tearful Jana Novotna after she lost the ladies’ singles final to Steffi Graf.

The duchess also backed tennis champion Martina Navratilova in her campaign to persuade the Czech authorities to allow her parents to witness her Wimbledon triumph, which was rewarded with success in 1979.

Katharine later became disenchanted with the Wimbledon authorities when, in 1999, she was refused permission to take the young son of murdered headmaster Philip Lawrence into the royal box.

For many years she led a separate life from the duke but the couple did not divorce.

Elizabeth II gave the duchess permission to drop her HRH style when she stepped away from the public spotlight.

But the duke and duchess were said to be closer than ever after Edward suffered a stroke in 2013, with Katharine moving back to their Wren House home.

The duchess attended events marking the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 and was present for the then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s 2011 wedding, and the Sussexes’ nuptials in 2018 where she wore comfortable white trainers paired with a floral Erdem maxi dress and walked arm in arm with a staff member from the royal household for support.

But she did not take part in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations nor attend her funeral or the King’s coronation, and is understood to have been unwell for some time.