The Duchess of Kent

Katherine Worsely, The Duchess of Kent, was born on 22 February 1933. The Worsely family have lived at Hovingham Hall, near York, for nearly 200 years. The Duchess's father, Sir William Worsely, was the fourth baronet and captain of the Yorkshire Cricket Club Team. He was also the Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire for fourteen years. Her mother was the daughter of Sir John Brunner, founder of ICI. The Duchess was educated at Queen Margaret's school near York and Runton Hill School in Norfolk. As a child she was very good at music and played the piano, organ and violin. Before going to Oxford to study music she worked in a children's home near York. In 1956, the Duchess met Prince Edward, Duke of Kent at Catterick, near Richmond in North Yorkshire. He was stationed at the barracks there. They married in York Minster in 1961and have three grown up children - George, Earl of St Andrews, Lady Helen Windsor and Lord Nicholas Windsor. In January 1994 the Duchess became the first member of the Royal Family to convert to Catholicism for 300 years.

The Duchess of Kent's Memory of Yorkshire One of the Duchess's favourite places in Yorkshire is Farndale when the wild daffodils are out.

Family, Music

Although it has not been possible to research and digitise archival material relating to this woman for inclusion on the website, it is important that the work of this woman is noted. For this reason, we have included a brief biography about her in order stimulate further reasearch into her life and how she has contributed or continues to contribute to the historical record. We hope that you may be inspired by this website to find out more about any of the women on the site, or to write about other women that you have known or know, and so add yourself to the ever-growing body of knowledge about women in history.

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