Oldest working royal’s turbulent life from family tragedy to heading secret organisation
Today, the Royal Family's oldest working member of the Firm, who still carries out duties for King Charles, is celebrating their birthday and has reached the impressive age of 89
For most of his life, he has tirelessly carried out royal duties and now has the title of the Firm’s oldest working member.
But despite his quiet devotion to duty, many are unaware of the turbulent and often dramatic life of the Duke of Kent, a cousin of the late Queen, who still carries out engagements on behalf of King Charles.
His rollercoaster life has seen him combine his royal service with heading up one of the most secretive organisations and experiencing religious scandal within his own family. And as he marks his 89th birthday today, here we take a look at the Duke of Kent’s very colourful past…
The Duke of Kent, whose first name is Edward, was born on this day in 1935 and is the eldest child of Prince George and Princess Marina of Greece in Denmark – making him a first cousin of Elizabeth II. He has a younger sister, Princess Alexandra, and a younger brother, Prince Michael of Kent.
At the age of just six, and just after the birth of Princess Michael, his father George was tragically killed in an RAF plane crash in Caithness, Scotland, during World War Two. The crash shook the Royal Family to its core and six-year-old Edward then inherited his father’s titles of Duke of Kent, Earl of St Andrews and Baron Downpatrick.
Like Princes William and Harry, although much earlier, he was educated at both Ludgrove Prep School as well as Eton College before he went to Le Rosey Institute in Switzerland. And like the young princes, he also attended the Sandhurst Military Academy, which set him up for a distinguished 20-year career in the Army.
The Duke’s first big moment in royal life came in 1953 when, as an 18-year-old, he took part in the late Queen’s Coronation and solemnly pledged to be her “liege man of life and limb” – a promise he upheld until she died in September 2022 at the age of 96. Later that decade, he met his future wife Katharine Worsley, the daughter of a Yorkshire landowner, and in 1961, the couple tied the knot in a glitzy wedding at York Minster that captivated the country’s imagination.
The couple have three children – George, Earl of St Andrews, Lady Helen Taylor and Lord Nicholas Windsor. They also have 10 grandchildren, including the model who was once dubbed the world’s most beautiful royal Lady Amelia Windsor.
However, the couple suffered heartbreak in 1977 when their son Patrick was stillborn. The Duchess of Kent later opened up about how she suffered from severe depression after this and reports once suggested she and the Duke had been on the verge of splitting, although they decided to remain together.
