As she will be remembered as something of a trailblazer in the Royal Family, its unsurprising that this reputation would start before the Duchess of Kent had walked down the aisle.
The chosen venue for Katharine Worsley – who died aged 92 earlier this month – and Prince Edward‘s wedding was York Minster which had not seen a royal wedding since Edward III, aged 15, married Philippa of Hainault there, 633 years previously.
It was also a marriage that faced its fair share of opposition chiefly from the groom’s mother Princess Marina who believed Katharine was ‘a woman of dubious pedigree and not up to the task that faced her.’
But, according to royal author Mary Riddell, the Duchess had a ‘streak of determination and stubbornness’ this was despite the fact she was about to ’embark on a life she viewed with fear’.
And while she entered the cathedral as Kate she left as Katharine, Duchess of Kent.
Despite these bumps on the road to the big day Katharine’s wedding was ‘very royal indeed’.
Riddell, writing in her biography titled The Duchess of Kent: The Troubled Life of Katharine Worsley, said: ‘The date was set for June 8. The invitation list of 2,000 included three queens: the Queen, the Queen Mother and Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain.’
Her wedding dress oozed of the style of the early 60s. Designed by John Cavanagh, on the recommendation of her soon-to-be mother-in-law, it was made of white silk and featured a round neck with fitted sleeves, as well as a full skirt with 15-foot train.
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Prince Edward and Katharine Worsley leave York MInster as husband and wife. While she entered the cathedral as Kate she left as Katharine, Duchess of Kent
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The Duke and Duchess of Kent outside York Minster. The wedding was a characteristically ‘very royal’ affair
On top of her head, Katharine wore a white tulle veil with a diamond bandeau tiara which had belonged to Queen Mary of Teck.
As the wedding day on June 8 1961 approached many of her closest friend noticed a change in her behaviour.
Riddell continued: ‘There was also, visible only to those who knew her, a touch of hauteur offering an echo of her mother’s manner and commensurate with her new status. Friends had always called her Kate. From now on, she said, she should be known as Katharine.’
When the big day finally arrived it was a grey and damp Thursday in Yorkshire and as the glass-topped car, lent by the Queen, drove to the cathedral the soon-to-be Duchess of Kent was ‘pale and silent’.
‘Beside her, Sir William [Katharine’s father] watched as she fingered her pearls, his gift, and heard the minster bells grow louder in the distance,’ Riddell wrote.
Katharine had good reason to be nervous as her car was late to the cathedral. Once outside the church, Katharine now faced the walk down York Minster’s 80 metres long aisle.
It was, as Riddell described it, ‘the longest walk of her existence’.
‘She had always feared the scrutiny that she, as a royal, would attract. Here, under the television cameras and the ranks of packed pews, was the reality,’ She added.
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Prince Edward and Katharine with Princess Marina the Duke’s mother. Marina believed Katharine was ‘a woman of dubious pedigree and not up to the task that faced her.’
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Katharine’s wedding dress oozed of the style of the early 60s. Designed by John Cavanagh, on the recommendation of her soon-to-be mother-in-law, it was made of white silk and featured a round neck with fitted sleeves, as well as a full skirt with 15-foot train
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The Duke and Duchess of Kent’s wedding cake
The ceremony itself went off without a hitch and not only did Katharine become the newest member of the Royal Family but she also became the Duchess of Kent and the first Englishwoman to bear the title since the dukedom was revived in 1799.
Riddell said: ‘The new Duchess moved through the aisle. The ordeal was over. She had survived it with dignity and aplomb. All the years of uncertainty were finished; the waiting, the delays, the satisfaction of seeing Marina bend, in the end gracefully, to her will.
‘This, perhaps, was the moment for a smile of exultation that the tensions were past.’
She did face one minor hiccup leaving the church when ‘her long veil snagged on a bench, threatening to rip Queen Mary’s diamonds from her head’.
‘She stood very still as an usher freed it, before stepping forwards to make her deep curtsey to the Queen,’ Riddell said.
Katharine met Prince Edward, the eldest son of Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina, while he was based at Catterick Camp in Yorkshire in 1956.
Together they have three children: George, Earl of Windsor, born in 1962, Lady Helen born in 1964 and Lord Nicholas born in 1970.
Riddell claimed that it was around this time that Katharine was ‘consumed’ by her desire for more children.
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The Duke and Duchess of Kent leave York Minster on their wedding day
And due to this yearning it is likely the Duchess would have been thrilled when she discovered she was pregnant with her fourth child.
However, tragedy struck and Katharine was left with a terrible dilemma about whether she should terminate her pregnancy.
Riddell discussed the terrible dilemma that Katharine faced.
In April 1975, The Times reported that The Duchess of Kent had contracted German Measles – more commonly known as rubella – and would ‘unable to carry out her engagements for the next few days’.
‘The story that she was also pregnant did not emerge until many years later,’ Riddell said.
While rubella is not considered dangerous normally, for pregnant women it can cause problems for the unborn foetus.
Riddell explained: ‘The facts surrounding German measles were stark. Rubella – if caught in the first eight weeks of pregnancy – was almost guaranteed to infect and damage an unborn child, causing multiple defects to the heart, the brain, the eyes and the hearing organs.
‘In many cases, the mother would suffer a miscarriage.
‘Though the risks diminished dramatically for women who caught the illness later on, the prognosis for those who contracted it early in the pregnancy was chilling.’
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Katharine, the Duchess of Kent, with her husband Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, and their children from left to right: George Windsor, the Earl of St Andrews, Lord Nicholas Windsor and Lady Helen Taylor
In light of this damning prognosis, a leading royal doctor told the Duchess that, in his view, she should have an abortion.
Due to her longing for another child, and her own strong views that all human life is sacred, Katharine turned to the Church for a second opinion.
Riddell said: ‘The advice mirrored that of her doctor. If medical opinion decreed that she should have her baby aborted, then Katharine would be committing no fault in following it. But ultimately it had her choice.’
And so Katharine had terminated the pregnancy.
In 1994, Katharine became the first member royal in more than 300 years to convert to Catholicism.
Royal experts in the past have speculated that her interest in the Roman Catholic Church started after the loss of her child.
Described at the time as ‘a long-pondered personal decision by the duchess’, Katharine was formally received into the Catholic church in January 1994.
Her conversion took place in a private service conducted by the then Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Basil Hume, with the prior approval of Queen Elizabeth II.
The Duchess of Kent would later go on to tell the BBC that she was attracted to Catholicism by the ‘guidelines’ provided by the faith.
The Duchess of Kent’s funeral – which King Charles III and Queen Camilla will attend -is set to be the first Catholic service held for a member of the royal family in modern British history.
