Katharine Worsley is Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Kent. She married Edward, Duke of Kent in 1961 and has three grown up children and numerous grandchildren.

The Duchess of Kent suffered the loss of a still born child in 1977 and has acknowledged publicly a period of severe depression which followed that sad event in her life.

She has come to my attention recently as someone who appears to have used her great inner strength and fortitude to forge a path in her later life which is both surprising and courageous and which has all the hall marks of a person that has responded to the call of her inner voice and found a way to respond.

Here are a few examples:-

• The Duchess asked the Queen for permission to become a Roman Catholic and converted to the faith in 1994 with HM Queen’s blessing.
• The Duchess asked the Queen for permission to divorce her husband, a request which was not granted and the marriage continues but the couple have lived separately for many years.
• The Duchess appears with her husband at state events from time to time and is understood to have become closer to him once again in recent years after he suffered a stroke.
• The Duchess gave up many of her Royal Duties (which were many) and became a school teacher of music at a state school in Hull, Yorkshire for thirteen years.
• The Duchess was known by the children as Mrs Kent.
• The Duchess has promoted a charity called “Future Talent” which provides financial support to those from poorer backgrounds with talent to fulfill their musical potential.

I’ve always had a deep respect for her, she radiates loveliness, and she has been a loyal and faithful support to the Royal Family throughout what appears to have been years of challenges in her marriage and personal life.

I feel inspired by her example of quiet loyalty on the one hand, and her response to her inner teacher on the other, to fulfill her potential in her own unique way.

My next blog will be:   Being Served

William Defoe