Duchess of Kent, First Senior Royal to Become Catholic in 300 Years, Dies at 92
Her 1994 reception into the Church by Cardinal Basil Hume marked the first public conversion of a senior British royal since the Stuart era.
LONDON — Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, who became the first senior British royal to be received into the Catholic Church since the 17th century, has died at the age of 92.
In a statement, Buckingham Palace said that the duchess died peacefully on Thursday evening at her Kensington Palace home, surrounded by her family.
“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 lifelong devotion to all the organisations with which she was associated, her passion for music and her empathy for young people,” the statement read.
Renowned for her natural charm, compassion for the sick and downtrodden, and commitment to serving others, the duchess was a much-loved and hard-working British royal whose popularity was enhanced by her own personal suffering and self-effacing nature.
Born into a notable aristocratic and land-owning family, Katharine Lucy Mary Worsley was raised an Anglican and, in 1961, married Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, a grandson of King George V and a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II.
The first woman without a peerage or princess title at birth to marry a royal duke in over a century, Katharine devoted herself to a life of service, and together with the duke, often represented the Queen at charity and state events at home and abroad.
Her journey to the Catholic faith was historically significant and born out of considerable personal loss and suffering.
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UPDATE: Lady Katharine’s funeral will take place at 2pm on 16 September 2025 in Westminster Cathedral, with King Charles III and Queen Camilla attending.
Her coffin will rest overnight in the Lady Chapel at Westminster Cathedral following a Rite of Reception and Vespers on 15 September. All the liturgies will take place in private.
The coffin will be taken to the Royal Burial Ground at Frogmore, Windsor, for burial and flags at royal residences will fly at half-mast.
It will be the first Catholic royal funeral since the Reformation, reflecting the Duchess’s conversion to Catholicism in 1994.
She seems to have been one of those people who were tending towards God to begin with. She had massive courage to publicly convert to Catholicism considering the environment she was in. May God grant her eternal peace.