Duchess of Kent is the principal courtesy title used by the wife of the

Duke of Kent Duke of Kent is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of Great Britain and the United Kingdom, most recently as a royal dukedom for the fourth son of King George V. Since 1942, the title has been held by Prince Edwar ...

. There have been four titles referring to

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

since the 18th century. The current duchess is

Katharine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

, the wife of Prince Edward. He inherited the dukedom on 25 August 1942 upon the death of his father, Prince George, the fourth son of

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

History

Henry Grey, 12th Earl of Kent Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent, KG, PC (16715 June 1740) was a British politician and courtier. None of his sons outlived him, so his new title became extinct on his death. Though the house he built at Wrest Park in Bedfordshire has gone, parts ...

since 1702 (of the eighth creation in the peerage of England) was raised to the peerage of Great Britain in 1706 under Queen Anne as Marquess of Kent, Earl of Harold and Viscount Goderich, then as Duke of Kent in 1710. In 1694, he had married Jemima Crew, who became Countess, Marchioness and then Duchess of Kent in 1702, 1706 and 1710 respectively. She died in 1728. In 1729, he married Sophia Bentinck, who died exactly a year after he did. The dukedom, marquessate and earldom of Kent all became extinct, as the duke had survived all of his sons and had no male collateral heirs. However, two subsidiary titles (the barony of Lucas of Crudwell and the marquessate of Grey) passed to his granddaughter, Jemima Yorke. The Prince Edward Augustus was created

Duke of Kent and Strathearn Duke of Kent and Strathearn is a title that was created once in the Peerage of Great Britain. History Several Earls of Kent had previously been created in the Peerage of England. Henry Grey, 12th Earl of Kent was created Duke of Kent in 1710, ...

in the peerage of Great Britain by his father,

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

, in 1799.''Whitehall, 23 April 1799.''
The King has been pleased to grant to His Most Dearly-Beloved Son Prince Edward, and to the Heirs Male of His Royal Highness's Body lawfully begotten, the Dignities of Duke of the Kingdom of Great Britain, and of Earl of the Kingdom of Ireland, by the Names, Styles, and Titles of Duke of Kent, and of Strathern, in the Kingdom of Great Britain, and of Earl of Dublin, in the Kingdom of Ireland. In 1818, he married

Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld , house = , father = Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld , mother = Countess Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorf , birth_date = , birth_place = Coburg, Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Holy Roman Empire , death_date = , death ...

, the daughter of Duke Francis and former regent of the Principality of Leiningen.Tom Levine: Die Windsors. Glanz und Tragik einer fast normalen Familie. Campus-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main u. a. 2005, , S. 20. They had one daughter, Princess Alexandrina Victoria, in 1819. The duke died with no male heir in 1820, while the duchess died in 1861. She never married again, but there were rumours (unproven) of an affair with

John Conroy Sir John Ponsonby Conroy, 1st Baronet, KCH (21 October 1786 – 2 March 1854) was a British Army officer who served as comptroller to the Duchess of Kent and her young daughter, Princess Victoria, the future Queen of the United Kingdom. Con ...

. Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia became Countess of Kent in 1874 on her marriage to The Prince Alfred Ernest Albert, who had received the earldom of Kent in the peerage of the United Kingdom from his mother eight years earlier. The couple were more commonly known by their higher titles of Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, then as Duke and Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The duke died in 1900, and the duchess in 1920. They had survived their only son,

Alfred Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

, in 1899. The Prince George Edward Alexander Edmund was created Duke of Kent by his father

in 1934, some weeks in advance of his wedding to

Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (27 August 1968), born Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark ( el, Μαρίνα), was a Greek princess by birth and a British princess by marriage. She was a daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark a ...

. She was a first cousin of the future royal consort

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

. George died in 1942, leaving his peerage titles to his six-year-old son, Prince Edward. Marina continued to be styled "The Duchess of Kent" until Edward's wedding, and was then styled "Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent" until her own death in 1968. Katharine Worsley married Prince Edward in 1961 and has remained Duchess of Kent ever since.

List of titleholders

Duchesses of Kent (Great Britain, 1710–1740)

Subsidiary titles: Countess of Harold, Viscountess Goderich, Baroness Lucas of Crudwell. , Jemima Crew
Crew family
1710–1728 , Jemima_Crew_and_Jemima_Grey

, 1675
–
daughter of Thomas Crew and Anne Armine , 1694

6 children , 2 July 1728
aged 31 or 32 , - , Sophia Bentinck
Bentinck family
1729–1740 , , 4 April 1701
–
daughter of

William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland Hans William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland, (20 July 164923 November 1709) was a Dutch and English nobleman who became in an early stage the favourite of William, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder in the Netherlands, and future King of England. He ...

and Jane Martha Temple , 1729

Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent, KG, PC (16715 June 1740) was a British politician and courtier. None of his sons outlived him, so his new title became extinct on his death. Though the house he built at Wrest Park in Bedfordshire has gone, parts ...

2 children , 5 June 1741
aged 40 , -

Duchess of Kent and Strathearn (Great Britain, 1818–1820)

Subsidiary titles: Countess of Dublin (Ireland). ,

House of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
1818–1820 , , 17 August 1786

Coburg Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it ...

–
daughter of

Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld en, Francis Frederick Anthony , house = , father = Ernest Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld , mother = Princess Sophie Antoinette of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel , birth_date = , birth_place = Coburg, ...

and

Countess Augusta of Reuss-Ebersdorf Countess Augusta Caroline Sophie Reuss-Ebersdorf () (19 January 1757 – 16 November 1831), was by marriage the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She was the maternal grandmother of Queen Victoria and the paternal grandmother of Albert, Princ ...

, 29 May 1818
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn
1 daughter , 16 March 1861
aged 74 , -

Countess of Kent (United Kingdom, 1874–1900)

Other titles: Duchess of Edinburgh, Countess of Ulster. , Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia

House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanova, was married to ...

1874–1900 , , 17 October 1853
Alexander Palace,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

–
daughter of Alexander II and

Marie of Hesse and by Rhine Maria Alexandrovna ( rus, Мария Александровна), born Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine (8 August 1824 – 3 June 1880), was Empress of Russia as the first wife and political adviser of Emperor Alexander II. She was one of th ...

, 23 January 1874

Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh Alfred (Alfred Ernest Albert; 6 August 184430 July 1900) was the sovereign duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1893 to 1900. He was the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He was known as the Duke of Edinburgh from 1 ...

5 children , 24 October 1920
aged 67 , -

Duchesses of Kent (United Kingdom, 1934–present)

Subsidiary titles: Countess of St Andrews, Baroness Downpatrick. ,

House of Glücksburg The House of Glücksburg (also spelled ''Glücksborg'' or ''Lyksborg''), shortened from House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, is a collateral branch of the German House of Oldenburg, members of which have reigned at various times ...

1934–1942 , Duchess_of_Kent

, 13 December 1906

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Greece
–
daughter of

Prince Nicholas Nicholas Teo () is a Malaysian Chinese singer under Good Tengz Entertainment Sdn Bhd. (Malaysia) Career Pre debut Before returning to Malaysia, Nicholas was studying in Taiwan, where he won the Best Singer in a competition among all the Tai ...

and Grand Duchess Elena , 29 November 1934

Prince George, Duke of Kent Prince George, Duke of Kent, (George Edward Alexander Edmund; 20 December 1902 – 25 August 1942) was a member of the British royal family, the fourth son of King George V and Queen Mary. He was a younger brother of kings Edward VIII and Geo ...

3 children , 27 August 1968, aged 61 , - , Katharine Worsley

Worsley family Worsley () is a village in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, which in 2014 had a population of 10,090. It lies along Worsley Brook, west of Manchester. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, there is evi ...

1961–present , The_Duchess_of_Kent_with_koala_(cropped)

, 22 February 1933

Hovingham Hall Hovingham Hall is a country house built in the Palladian style in the village of Hovingham, North Yorkshire, England. It has been the seat of the Worsley family and the childhood home of the Duchess of Kent. It was built in the 18th century on ...

, Yorkshire
–
daughter of Sir

William Worsley Col. Sir William Arthington Worsley, 4th Baronet (5 April 1890 – 4 December 1973) was an English landowner and amateur first-class cricketer. Biography Worsley was born at Hovingham Hall, Yorkshire, England, the son of Sir William Henry Art ...

and Joyce Brunner , 8 June 1961
Prince Edward
3 children ,
now old , -

Possible future duchesses

Edward and Katharine's eldest son

George Windsor George Windsor may refer to: * Prince George of Wales (born 2013), son of William, Prince of Wales, and Catherine, Princess of Wales * George Windsor, Earl of St Andrews (born 1962), great-grandson of George V * Prince George, Duke of Kent (1902� ...

, married Sylvana Tomaselli in 1988. They are currently known by the courtesy titles Earl and Countess of St Andrews. As George is three generations removed from the crown he is not a prince. Upon his accession Sylvana would be styled ''Her Grace'' The Duchess of Kent. George and Sylvana's only son Edward, born in 1988, is currently unmarried.

References

{{British royal titles British monarchy Lists of duchesses #