HRH The Duchess of Kent (1933-2025)

[bx...@yahoo.com]

Buckingham Palace has announced the passing of HRH The Duchess of Kent at the age of 92. 

 She died on September 4, 2025.

[bx...@yahoo.com]

She was born Katharine Lucy Mary Worsley on Feb. 22, 1933, to Sir William WORSLEY, 4th Bt. and his wife Joyce (nee BRUNNER), the daughter of Sir John BRUNNER, 2nd Bt.

The Duchess is survived by her husband of 64 years, HRH The Duke of Kent, their 3 children, George,  styled Earl of St. Andrews (b. 1962), Lady Helen Taylor (b. 1964) and Lord Nicholas Windsor, along with 10 grandchildren. 

Among her grandchildren is Edward, styled Baron Downpatrick, second in the line of succession behind his father, to the Kent dukedom.

As an American, with limited viewing access to members of the Royal Family other than the Queen (and her immediate family), I remember her as the beautfiul woman, with grace and class, who awarded the championship trophy at Wimbledon for many years.

May she rest in peace.

Brooke

[bx...@yahoo.com]

Her nephew, Sir William Ralph WORSLEY, is the 6th Baronet.

Brooke

[BREMENMURRAY]

Her wedding  was the first Royal Wedding at York Minster since Edward III married Phillipa of Hainaut 24 January 1328.Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain was present along with her grandson Juan Carlos and his future wife Sophia.

Rather disastrously the Daily Telegraph states in its Obit  that the Duchess of Kent "was the first non titled person to marry a member of the Royal Family since the days of the Tudors".Yet only the year before Princess Margaret had married Anthony Armstrong Jones who was still non titled at this June 1961 wedding.

Also James II married Anne Hyde and Edward VIII married Wallis Simpson

[Henry W]

(Re-posted - correcting a date error)

At the time of her death was she the 6th oldest living spouse of a QVD?

I worked from Colin's 2019 list (which does not include those who are themselves QVDs) and then googled to remove several who have died in the intervening years.  Some might be difficult to pin down, and I have indicated additional names that seem to be indicated from my searching.

This is the list I think are still living:

1.    Douglas Barton Miller (widower of Princess Marie Alexandra of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg) b 8 December 1929

2.   Baron Victor von Baillou (second husband of Archduchess Alexandra of Austria-Tuscany) b 27 June 1931

3.    Karl-Anton Bauscher (husband of Princess Mechtilde of Leiningen) b 26 August 1931

4.    Count Rudolf von Schonburg-Glauchau (separated? husband of Princess Marie-Louise of Prussia) b 25 September 1932

5.    Princess Maria Luisa of Bulgaria, Mrs Chrobok) (formerly of Leiningen) (divorced wife of Prince Karl of Leiningen) b 13 January 1933

    The Duchess of Kent (nee Worsley) (wife of the Duke of Kent) b 22 February 1933 (died 4 Sept 2025)

6.    Princess Maria-Hildegard of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (nee Fischer) (widow of Prince Albrecht of Hohenlohe-Langenburg) b 30 November 1933

7.    Friedrich Sandhofer (widower of Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria-Tuscany) 1 August 1934

[colinp]

Baron Victor von Baillou died 10 Nov 2023 aged 92 years 136 days.  Otherwise I believe your list is correct

[malcolm davies]

I note you have left out actual QVD descendants but it is worth mentioning Princess Astrid of Norway and King Albert II are in this age group.

[BREMENMURRAY]

Surprisingly her final public engagement  was as recent as 8 June 2023.

King Albert is not a descendant of Queen Victoria 

[colinp]

The Duchess was also seen in a wheelchair in the photos of the event on 9 Oct 2024 when pipers from the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards played outside Wren House, Kensington Palace to mark the Duke of Kent's 89th birthday. Prince Michael of Kent and Lord Nicholas Windsor were also present.

[BREMENMURRAY]

Tributes to the Duchess of Kent at Prime Ministers Questions this week

[BREMENMURRAY]

Members of the extended Royal Family are arriving at Westminster Cathedral for the Requiem Mass.Live on You Tube

[bx...@yahoo.com]

According to the Daily Mail, Queen Camilla has withdrawn from attending, in advance of the funeral, suffering from acute sinusitis.

Brooke

[BREMENMURRAY]

The procession is leaving Westminster Cathedral now

[bx...@yahoo.com]

Tatler has an article about all of those who were at the funeral, including everyone from the Royal Family.

The only peer who isn't a member of the Royal Family who is shown is Peter St. Clair-Erskine, the 7th Earl of Rosslyn.

How is he connected to the Kents, or is he just a friend of the family?

Thanks.

Brooke

[S. S.]

The 7th Earl of Rosslyn is the Lord Steward of the Household. I believe he is also close to the late queen and Charles III.

S.S.

[bx...@yahoo.com]

Thanks, S.S.

Brooke

[pyvery]

I notice that there was no mention of Lady Nicholas Windsor.

[sven_me...@web.de]

I presume they are not together anymore.

[S. S.]

pyvery, if you look at the Tatler article, it does mention "The Kents' youngest son, Lord Nicholas Windsor, his wife Paola and three sons".

S.S.

[BREMENMURRAY]

Countess Mountbatten and Jeffrey Archer were present.

Columbus and Cassius Taylor must win the prize for the most original royal names

[sven_me...@web.de]

Well the most royals simply use the same names over and over again.

[Paul Theroff]

Uncommon, but hardly original. If you want an original name, there is their cousin Zenouska. a name which may have been invented by her parents.

[bx...@yahoo.com]

Among original royal names, I guess we can include "Xan" as well.

Brooke

[Robert Jewell]

Ale XAN der?

[https:/www.LeighRayment.com.au]

According the the Daily Mail, Lady Nicholas Winsdor was not at the Funeral.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15109209/duke-kent-son-splits-wife.html

[bx...@yahoo.com]

Robert,  his official name appears to be just that-- Xan.

Brooke

[gorgo...@gmail.com]

I think Zenouska is a diminutive/affectionate form Zenaida or Zenobia used as a given name.

[Paul Theroff]

I don't know whether it is true, but the story is that the name was invented by Paul Mowatt and Marina Ogilvy, allegedly inspired by the American novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974) and Eno, the surname of English musician Brian Eno (1948-).

https://www.behindthename.com/name/zenouska/submitted

[BREMENMURRAY]

Perhaps one day we will have a King Cassius or King Zan

[BREMENMURRAY]

The Court Circular confirms Lady Nicholas Windsor was not present

[Windemere]

The name 'Xander' has become quite common now, especially in America. It derives from 'Alexander'. I'm guessing that 'Xan" has a similar derivation, though not as common.

"Archie' must be derived from "Archibald' and 'Lilibet' from 'Elizabeth'.  It seems that it some families nicknames , for some reason, are replacing more formal given names. Not sure of the reason why. Possibly some reaction against formality.

[Windemere]

Very surreal !  Maybe due to the influence of fantastical video games and 'Star Wars', which seem to be replacing authentic history among the rising generations.

[Robert Jewell]

The derivation from Alexander is what I was suggesting. I was not suggesting that his name was Alexander. It is clear that XAN is his first name. I've known Xanders, both as diminutives of Alexander and as a full name.

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[BREMENMURRAY]

Not forgetting that Albania had King Zog

[Paul Theroff]

There is a thread about unusual names at https://groups.google.com/g/peerage-news/c/aVFHNCSdaTU/m/AsTvHb_oAAAJ

[Patricia Light]

Someone posted that Lady Nicholas Windsor did not attend the funeral of the Duchess of Kent, here is the article posted by 'Royal Musings' about the separation of the couple

https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2025/09/a-royal-separation.html

[bx...@yahoo.com]

Patricia, she might not have been there, but I do remember seeing photos of their 3 sons at the funeral.

Brooke

[BREMENMURRAY]

The article makes me nostalgic for the days when the extended Royal Family appeared on the balcony not just the"working" members

[Duke of Earl]

That is quite correct, Brooke.

I was there in Westminster Cathedral and I saw Lord Nicholas walking alone behind his father, sister, brother and sister-in-law.

His eldest son (Albert Windsor) read some of the prayers, with two of his cousins.

[Henry W]

From the Court Circular:

16 September 2025
Balmoral Castle
The Requiem Mass for Her late Royal Highness The Duchess of Kent took place in Westminster Cathedral, London SW1, this afternoon.

The King, with The Duke of Kent and accompanied by Earl and Countess of St. Andrews, Mr. Timothy and the Lady Helen Taylor, the Lord Nicholas Windsor and other Members of the Royal Family and of the family of Her late Royal Highness, was present.

No mention of Lady Nicholas, which confirms her absence.

[bx...@yahoo.com]

Tatler article, about the split of the Lord Nicholas Windsors:

https://www.tatler.com/article/lord-nicholas-windsor-wife-separation

Brooke

[BREMENMURRAY]

The Tatler article is incorrect when it states Lord Nicholas Windsor was the first member of the Royal Family to marry in a Catholic ceremony since Mary I.

James II married Mary of Modena in a Roman Catholic ceremony. Also two of Queen Victoria's granddaughters Princess Beatrice of Edinburgh and Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg were married in Catholic ceremonies.   

[BREMENMURRAY]

Also James the Old Pretender who was Prince of Wales until the Act of Settlement in 1701 was married in a Catholic ceremony

[malcolm davies]

Brooke,

             You raised the question of why the Earl of Rosslyn was there.If you look at the You Tube footage you will see he accompanied the King to the service,given the Queen was indisposed.As SS pointed out he is Lord Steward.

[bx...@yahoo.com]

Thank you, malcolm.

Brooke

[colinp]

On 7 Sept Henry W wrote -  At the time of her death was she the 6th oldest living spouse of a QVD?

On 7 Sept I wrote -  Baron Victor von Baillou died 10 Nov 2023 aged 92 years 136 days.  Otherwise I believe your list is correct

It has just come to light (thx ScottishKIng at nobiliana.de) that Karl Anton Bauscher (widower of Princess Mechtilde of Leiningen) had died on 31 March 2025.  The Duchess of Kent was therefore the 4th oldest spouse of a descendant of Queen Victoria at her death

Karl Anton Bauscher | Traueranzeige | trauer.inFranken.de