Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, turns 89 this October 9. The first cousin of the late Queen Elizabeth II was treated to a musical surprise, right outside the door of his home. A detachment of the Scottish Dragoons surprised him by playing bagpipes outside his home in Kensington. His wife Katharine, the oldest member of the royal family, who almost never appears in public anymore, was present with their son, Lord Nicholas, and Prince Michael.
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An 89th birthday to the sound of bagpipes
THE Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys) are a light cavalry regiment of the British army, heir to the very old regiment of Royal Scots Greys. In 1994, Queen Elizabeth II appointed her first cousin, the Duke of Kent, deputy colonel of this regiment, with the queen being colonel-in-chief. In 2023, King Charles III took over the honorary role of colonel-in-chief of the regiment, vacant since the death of his mother. The new sovereign decided to maintain the role of deputy colonel for his faithful cousin.
This October 9, 2024, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, celebrates his 89th birthday. On this occasion the regiment of Royal Scots Dragoon Guards had prepared a surprise for him. This regiment has had its own group of pipers since 1946. Intrigued by the sound of the bagpipes ringing outside his home, Prince Edward came out to the doorstep of Wren House with his wife, his brother and one of his son.
The appearance of the Duchess of Kent at his side is all the more surprising. In 2002, Katharine decided to drastically reduce her royal obligations. Almost completely withdrawn from public life, she even asked to no longer use her predicate of Royal Highness.
Katharine, whose conversion to Catholicism in 1994 caused a stir, is 91 years old and has been the oldest member of the royal family since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022. She now attends very few public events. She was absent at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II and the coronation of Charles III. We see in the photos from this Wednesday that the Duchess of Kent travels in a wheelchair.
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The Duchess of Kent, Prince Michael of Kent and Lord Nicholas Windsor outside Wren House
Prince Edward has lived since 1978 at Wren House, a home built on the Kensington Palace complex. The house is named after Christopher Wren, the architect who led the construction of several outbuildings in Kensington at the very end of the 17th century. The Duke of Kent was surrounded by his wife, Duchess Katharine, his brother, Prince Michael of Kent, and his second son, Lord Nicholas.
Officially, the Duke of Kent is still a working member of the royal family, as is his sister, Princess Alexandra of Kent. The health of the latter, aged 87, has declined sharply in recent times and she has not held public engagements for almost two years. The Duke of Kent, who had been more discreet in recent years, suddenly became more active again during the last years of Elizabeth II’s life, after the retirement of the prince consort and especially after the death of the latter in 2021. Since the death of Elizabeth II, Prince Edward has also decided to abandon certain patronages and in particular the presidency of the All England Tennis, the tennis club organizing the Wimbledon tournament. He presided over the club from 1969 to 2021, presenting the trophy to the winner each year.
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The Duke of Kent is the eldest of his siblings, made up of Alexandra, 87, and Michael, 82. Prince Michael of Kent, unlike Edward and Alexandra, never worked for the monarchy. When Prince Edward was born on October 9, 1935, he was 7th in the line of succession. Prince Edward was born during the reign of his grandfather, King George V. He is now 41st in the line of succession. When his father died in 1942, Edward inherited his title as Duke of Kent.
Prince Edward’s father was Prince George, fourth son of King George V who was given the title Duke of Kent in 1934. King George V had five sons. The eldest would become King Edward VIII, who abdicated after 10 months. The second was the Duke of York, who would become King George VI. The third was the Duke of Gloucester, the fourth the Duke of Kent and the fifth died at age 13.
Prince Edward married Katharine Worsley, daughter of Baronet Worsley, in 1961. The couple had three children: George (1962), Lady Helen (1964) and Lord Nicholas (1970). George is heir to the title of Duke of Kent. As heir, he currently holds his father’s subsidiary title of Earl of St Andrews. George, married to a Catholic, was excluded from the line of succession to the British throne since his marriage to Sylvana Tomaselli. Since the modification of the law of succession in 2011, members of the royal family married to a Catholic are no longer excluded from succession, as long as they themselves are not Catholic. George therefore re-entered the order of succession on this date. His first two children, including his heir son, Edward Windsor, Baron Downpatrick, were Catholic and therefore not a dynast. He would one day become the first Catholic Duke of Kent.
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