Katharine Worsley, the Duchess of Kent, died on Thursday at the age of 92. Her title was deceptive because she was a Yorkshirewoman, born at Hovingham Hall in the North Riding of Yorkshire in 1933. Can you see that there is a cricket match in progress in front of the grand country house?
She married into the House of Windsor in 1961. Her husband was Prince Edward, The Duke of Kent. Princess Anne was one of the bridesmaids and Noel Coward was one of the guests. Unusually, this fabulous royal wedding took place in York Minster and not down in London.
Now, I should say at this point that I am not a great royal watcher. My idea of hell would be being locked in a room with royal TV dramas like "The Crown" being played continuously on a large screen. Normally, I am just not interested and somewhat resentful of royal privilege. However, The Duchess of Kent had a special secret that made her quite admirable in my view. Let me share it with you.
For thirteen years, she paid weekly in cognito visits to Wansbeck Primary School on the Longhill council estate in north Hull. There she was known simply as Miss Kent and she taught music. Not just in a one off lesson for the media to record but thirteen long years of unpaid service. She was always passionate about music and wished to transmit that passion to disadvantaged children. She didn't just talk about it - she put her words into action.
In "The Hull Daily Mail", the headteacher at Wansbeck Primary School, said in tribute: "We are saddened to hear the news of the passing of The Duchess of Kent. ‘Miss Kent’ (as she was known to our school community) was an inspiration to the children when she taught music here over many years. She was a dedicated teacher who taught music with passion and showed the most amazing commitment to our school. Her kindness, compassion and talent for teaching lives on in the children she impacted during her time here."
"I love those children, I loved being there, and I love east Hull," the duchess once said. "I wouldn’t have stayed there for thirteen years if I hadn’t."
Visitors to this blog who like tennis, will remember that The Duchess of Kent was for many years closely associated with the annual Wimbledon tennis tournament:-
With Venus Williams in 2001
I genuinely believe that the majority of the royal family wish to use their privilege for good.
ReplyDeleteThe duchess' investment in the children will be a wonderful but sadly unquantifiable legacy
I presume you do not include Prince Andrew on your brownie point chart Kylie.
DeleteI very deliberately put that disclaimer in there when I said the majority.
DeleteAndrew is not deserving of anything but a gaol cell. Harry has lost the plot
I had heard that the Duchess of Kent had died, but I had no idea what her connection was to the royal family. So, I looked her up and learned something new. I think the 13 years that she worked with those children shows her true character.
ReplyDeleteI love the fact that her service in that school was not loudly trumpeted.
DeleteI remember when she married the Duke of Kent, I was 16 and I thought it very romantic! I think her brother John Worsley had a farm near Uxbridge, Ontario, close to where I used to live.
ReplyDeleteUxbridge is in Middlesex Shammy! Not far from Heathrow Airport.
DeleteAhaa! The other Uxbridge...
DeleteI never heard of her before but it sounds like she was a nice woman.
ReplyDeleteWell I hate to say this Ellen but she had never heard of you either and you also sound like a nice woman.
DeleteNow THAT is how to be a royal.
ReplyDeleteAs The Duchess of Lloyd, you should know milady!
DeleteI think she also volunteered with the Samaritans, also without any fuss.
ReplyDeleteDid she take your call Tasker?
DeleteI took lots. I volunteered for 6 years.
DeleteI applaud you for helping others in that way. Perhaps I should have been a Samaritan myself instead of working at our local Oxfam shop.
DeleteI get the impression that she wasn't all that comfortable in being part of the 'firm' either! I met her in 1973 when she opened the NYMR at Pickering. A group of us had been doing 'cooking' at school - pre 'domestic science' days - and stopped on the corner of Park Street to watch as she was coming away from the railway station surrounded by local dignitaries. She saw us with our tins and came over to chat, asking what we'd been baking. One girl opened her tin to show the contents - I think it was flap-jack - and offered Katharine one. She accepted, and didn't say, "I''ll eat it later" or pass it to an aide, but deliberately took a bite, pronounced it delicious, and continued to munch as she engaged us in conversation about ingredients and method. The dignitaries were a bit huffy, but it made that particular baker beam for days. The local press photographer captured the moment and it became as much a part of the front page news as the blessing of the trains. Reading of all the work she did under the radar - teaching, Samaritans, Childline, serving at a foodbank, etc - all indicates what a kind, down to earth, person she must have been. She said in an interview that she was still a Yorkshire lass through and through, and nowhere did Yorkshire common-sense show more than when she went to Harry and Megan's wedding in a frock and trainers - no standing around in impractical high heels all day for her.
ReplyDeleteI trust that you curtseyed to her Elizabeth! How splendid that she also worked for The Samaritans. I think that her funeral should take place in York - not London as now planned.
DeleteI agree. I sense that she would have preferred to return home.
DeleteAs royals go, she sort of flew under the radar. A lot of us who are not close royal-watchers -- especially those of us from overseas -- probably never knew of her. I hadn't heard of her until her death. And how is she related to Princess Michael of Kent? Or is she?
ReplyDeleteThey were sisters-in-law. Both had married into The House of Windsor. Oddly, Princess Michael married Prince Michael!
DeleteShe was a very caring royal just like Princess Diana was. She always had much sympathy for the Wimbledon runner ups.
ReplyDeleteShe exuded kindness.
DeleteYou can be a royal and be a good person at the same time. Who knew??
ReplyDeleteQueen Elizabeth II was certainly one of them Bob.
DeleteNot all royals are bad. I count Princess Anne as one of the hardest workers of the lot. She puts in a huge amount of time working for the firm. I believe William and Catherine are also hard-workers, as was the Duchess of Kent. But I agree there are some who have taken advantage of their privilege. But would you sooner have a president like Trump or Putin?
ReplyDeleteNo. I would rather have a president like Arthur Scargill. In Britain, a president could be simply ceremonial - not active megalomaniacs like the two monsters you mentioned.
DeleteThe Duchess was highly regarded for her talent an contributions rather than her status. No royals here anymore.
ReplyDeleteApart from The Earl of Esk. Now I wonder who he might be?
DeleteWhat a good woman, Duchess or not. To those whom much is given, much should be expected. If only more wealthy people thought that way, I wouldn't resent them so much.
ReplyDeleteEnormous tespwct to her. I'd read about Miss Kent and the music teaching somewhere a while back. What one might call a genuine human.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this. I saw on the TV news that she had died, but apart from that I knew nothing at all about her. She seems to have been a very nice person.
ReplyDeleteI knew nothing of her, so it has been an interesting discovery. She sounds like a good person, even though she was very privileged.
ReplyDeleteI knew of her from the many years I read to my blind grandmother every Saturday morning. She loved hearing about the Royal families of England, Monaco, Norway, Sweden, The Netherlands and so on, and had me read a small pile of "ladies' magazines" every week. She never spent a single penny on them, but they were making the round in the neighbourhood - usually several weeks old by the time they got to my Oma. That's how I accumulated quite a base of knowledge about all those people - but I had never come across that Yorkshire connection of the late Duchess, and am pleased to know that her wedding was in York Minster. You are right, her funeral service should be held there, too.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful person she was - she had the most beautiful serene face. I haven't heard her name mentioned for years, but remember her marrying, and later converting to Catholicism, then she appeared to quietly disappear from public life. Unlike some Royals (we all know who), she went about making the world a better place for those with disadvangtes.
ReplyDeleteI too am not now, nor ever have been, a royal watcher and I am ambivalent to say the least about its role in Canadian society, but I am very pleased that you shared this story with us. Bravo to the late duchess. She knew what it’s all about.
ReplyDeleteGood people exist, and it's nice to hear what she did for the children. They are our future, which people seem to forget sometimes.
ReplyDeleteThere is something very human, about not acting royal.
ReplyDeleteMy mother was born 1934 - So of a similar age to The Duchess of Kent - Throughout the years she always admired her especially - Not just her looks but her character too - flis x
ReplyDeleteShe was a graceful woman and down to earth, Mrs Kent to her pupils.
ReplyDeleteSounds like teaching music probably served as a kind of "escape" for herself (from the roles of duchess and royalty). Can't be all easy for royals either to always be in the limelight... (Even if some handle it better than others!) I was just reminded of that earlier today when a story about Queen Elizabeth II turned up for me on Facebook, about her meeting someone when out walking at Balmoral who didn't recognise her as the queen - and she played along with it...
ReplyDelete