From Newsgroup: alt.obituaries

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/world/europe/duchess-of-kent-dead.html

Duchess of Kent Dies at 92; a Royal Who Comforted a Wimbledon Loser

A member of an aristocratic family, she married the Duke of Kent, a cousin
of Queen Elizabeth II.

By Victor Mather
Sept. 5, 2025
Katharine, the Duchess of Kent, a member of the British royal family who
was a longtime patron of the Wimbledon tennis tournament, died on Thursday
in London. She was 92.

Buckingham Palace announced her death but did not provide additional
details.

The duchess kept a low profile for a member of the royal family,
fulfilling less visible duties and steering clear of scandal at a time
when more prominent royals were sometimes embroiled in it.

To those who were not regular royal watchers, she was best known for comforting the losing finalist Jana Novotna in 1993 at Wimbledon, where
the duchess was a regular. As The New York Times wrote at the time,
Novotna rCLcried on the well-tailored shoulder of the Duchess of Kent.rCY

Katharine Lucy Mary Worsley was born on Feb. 22, 1933, in Hovingham, in Yorkshire, England, the daughter of William Worsley, a knighted wealthy landowner, and Joyce Morgan Brunner.

Though not royal, her family was aristocratic rCo she was born in the estate Hovingham Hall, on land the family had owned for 400 years rCo and she mixed with the smart set.

That led her to meeting Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, a grandson of
King George V and Queen Elizabeth IIrCOs first cousin. She married him in
1961 in York Minster, the Gothic cathedral in York, and became the
duchess.

The duke was known as Steady Eddie, a dependable sort unlikely to bring
the monarchy into disrepute. He survives her, as do their children rCo
George, the Earl of St. Andrews; Lady Helen Taylor; and Lord Nicholas
Windsor rCo and 10 grandchildren.

The duchess was regularly seen in the royal box at Wimbledon, where her husband served as president for a half century; she often delivered the winning trophy to the tournament champions.

Ms. Novotna lost the 1993 womenrCOs final to Steffi Graf after blowing a 4-1 lead in the final set and became emotional during the presentation of the trophies. Defying traditional royal decorum, the duchess embraced Ms.
Novotna and predicted that she would win the title someday.

It was a humanizing moment for a member of a royal family that could
sometimes seem distant.

When Ms. Novotna won the title in 1998, fulfilling the duchessrCOs
prediction, the two shared another moment. rCLThe duchess clasped NovotnarCOs hands in hers and told her she was proud of her, and then gave the
quivering champion the silver winnerrCOs plate that had eluded her in 1993
and 1997,rCY The Times reported. rCLNovotna raised it high above her head and cried some more.rCY

The duchess converted to Roman Catholicism in 1994. She was the first
member of the officially Anglican royal family to do so in more than 300 years.

She continued to make public appearances until she stepped back from most
of her royal duties in 2002. rCLFor many years, she was one of our hardest working royals,rCY Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain said in a
statement on Friday.

Her ceremonial appearances may have been brief, but they often made a
lasting impact on the people involved. After her death, the North
Yorkshire Moors Railway, for example, called the duchessrCOs opening of the railway in 1973 rCLa moment we will always treasure.rCY

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The British government ordered flags to be flown at half-staff on Friday
to mark her death.

The duchess had a number of health issues. A case of German measles in
1975 led her to terminate a pregnancy, followed two years later by a stillbirth, which led to a bout of depression that she spoke about
publicly. She spent time in the hospital in 1978 for what was described as rCLnervous exhaustionrCY and suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome.

She also quietly began to live a largely separate life from the duke,
although they never divorced and reportedly grew closer in recent years.

Music played a big part in the duchessrCO life; she played piano and violin and sang. She had briefly worked as a kindergarten teacher before her marriage, and starting in the mid-1990s, she discreetly worked as a music teacher at Wansbeck Primary School in Hull, in her home county of
Yorkshire.

rCLIrCOve studied music all my life; itrCOs my passion,rCY she told The Hull Daily
Mail in a 2004 article that revealed her role after a decade of teaching
below the radar. rCLMy other passion is children.rCY

The job was so low profile that many at the school did not know she was a royal, she said. To her young pupils, she was rCLMrs. Kent.rCY


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