The Duke and Duchess of Kent: Oct 2003-

[Florencia]

THE DUCHESS OF KENT The elegant royal speaks from the heart in a rare exclusive interview
News and photos of the rich and famous - HELLO!, hellomagazine.com

[iowabelle]

I don't usually find Hello around here, but I'd be very interested in this interview.

Why do you think she wanted to talk to them? I can't imagine that she'd be very motivated by money since she seems to be a very plain (I mean sensible and conservative, modest) person.

[Lindy]

Hello! magazine had an interview with the Duchess of Kent last week. The interview includes pictures of KK with her daughter, Helen, which appear to have been taken at Wren House. I love the English look of her home - flowered pillows, Irish Setter figure, topiary, framed architectual prints. The Duchess looks attractive and was photographed wearing white linen pants and a white tee-shirt - different looks were achieved by adding a short black jacket, a black and white tunic, a grey cardigan and a purple crochet sweater.

Much of the interview is about her charity, Future Talent, which provides musical opportunities for underprivileged children. Once Hello! gets the obligatory questions out of the way, they ask a few personal questions such as: "In the Eighties, there were reports that you had dropped out of public life because you were ill, supposedly suffering from depression or ME." According to Hello!, when asked this question "the Duchess is speechless for a moment before touching wood." She responds by saying she is very lucky in that she has rarely ever been sick and she was completely unaware that there were rumors about her health as she does not read what is written about her. "My friends wouldn't tell me because it is absolute bilge!"

Other items of interest: The Duchess does not see herself as "lonely and reclusive" given the fullness of her life. Her saddest memory is the death of her father to whom she was close; she is proud of her Worsley heritage. For relaxation, she likes to watch TV shows like the East Enders, enjoy country living, read poetry and learn new things. She loves pop and classical music and keeps up to date on musical groups so she can relate to her students. She sees a lot of her grandchildren. Although she still loves clothes, she is no longer as committed to high fashion. She has had to get rid of many of her "royal" dresses because there is no room for them in her house. And as for Diana: "I just related to her and liked her very much. She was a friend and we laughed a lot together."

[iceflower]

Here are two pics from the interview

** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 **

[Claire]

Originally Posted by CarolinaLandgrave

Thanks HelenW and Warren - I just wanted to make sure that it was he I saw.
I didnt know that some of the Royal family were Masons.
Thanks again!!

All male members of the royal family, with the exception of James Wessex are masons.

[Royal Fan]

All males even William and Henry?

[Claire]

Originally Posted by Royal Fan

All males even William and Henry?

Yep. Even William and Harry.

[Warren]

Various pics of the Duke of Kent wearing his Masonic chain and opening a Lodge can be found earlier in the thread at this post.

[Russophile]

Wow, that is very cool that HRH The Duke of Kent wasthere oe the Williams sisters match

[Warren]

No surprise, since the Duke of Kent is President of the All English Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club which runs the Wimbledon tournament.

[Lady Marmalade]

This is going to sound totally crazy, but here in the States there is a new commercial for Wii...which shows several people using the controller to play the music to Super Mario Brothers. Now, there is a lady with light-colored, short hair sitting in a chair shown in two frames who I swear to heaven looks EXACTLY like the Duchess of Kent...

I know, I sound nuts, but it is uncanny...and given her interest and passion in music, who knows, maybe it was?

[Lindy]

I was surprised to see that this week's issue of the American tabloid the National Enquirer has a picture on the cover of the Duchess of Kent at age 75 in a bikini on an island off of Africa.

[Iluvbertie]

Originally Posted by Claire

Yep. Even William and Harry.

This is incorrect.

The only royals who are masons are the Duke of Edinburgh (last active December 1952), the Duke of Kent and Prince Michael of Kent.

No other current royals are masons, although they have been very active in the past.

The Duke of Edinburgh joined because he had promised George VI that he would do so however Lord Mountbatten was strongly opposed to Freemasonry and convinced his nephew not to continue as an active mason and then infuenced Charles and his brothers not to join at all.

[branchg]

Originally Posted by lynnecam1uk

The Duchess was always such a lovely person, are the Duke and Duchess of Kent living separate lives, i know i have heard rumours they are and they are never seen together now such a shame as i thought they were a lovely couple

It is generally thought The Duke and Duchess agreed to an informal and amicable separation around 2002. At that time, The Duchess asked The Queen for permission to live a more private life as "Katharine, Duchess of Kent" and to stop using her style of HRH.

The Queen agreed to the request, although she is still officially listed as "HRH The Duchess of Kent" in the Court Circular, despite the fact she no longer performs any public duties.

[Kotroman]

There is something yet more interesting. You know that you can see the adresses of members of the Royal Family on the new website, right? Well, Her Majesty and The Duke of Edinburgh share the same adress, naturally, and so does the rest of the royal couples... expect for The Duke and Duchess of Kent! Have I missed something? Do they live seperately or do they receive mail on different adresses (which would make no sense anyway)?

[Mermaid1962]

They seem to have been living separate lives for awhile now. The Duchess's public appearances are extremely rare now.

Originally Posted by Kotroman

There is something yet more interesting. You know that you can see the adresses of members of the Royal Family on the new website, right? Well, Her Majesty and The Duke of Edinburgh share the same adress, naturally, and so does the rest of the royal couples... expect for The Duke and Duchess of Kent! Have I missed something? Do they live seperately or do they receive mail on different adresses (which would make no sense anyway)?

[Charlotte1]

Originally Posted by Kotroman

There is something yet more interesting. You know that you can see the adresses of members of the Royal Family on the new website, right? Well, Her Majesty and The Duke of Edinburgh share the same adress, naturally, and so does the rest of the royal couples... expect for The Duke and Duchess of Kent! Have I missed something? Do they live seperately or do they receive mail on different adresses (which would make no sense anyway)?

They don't live separately, both the Duke and Duchess of Kent live at Wren House which is in the grounds of Kensington Palace. The Duchess has retired from public duties so she doesn't have an office anymore and her mail address is their private residence. The Duke of Kent carries out public duties and his office is at St James's Palace ( as was the Duchess's when she was still carrying out engagements) So the address for the Duke is his office address, ( he doesn't live at St James's) as is the Duke of York's, his principle residence is Royal Lodge at Windsor and Princess Anne's is Gatcombe Park and yet their mailing address is listed as Buckingham Palace as that's where their offices are.

[branchg]

The Duchess also has an apartment in London of her own. She gives music lessons there and spends most of her time living independently of the royal family.

Her official residence remains Wren House as she and The Duke remain married and there was no announcement of a separation. While she may very well spend a few nights there as well, she asked for and received permission from The Queen to live independently as "Katharine Kent" and has stopped using HRH.

[Elsa M.]

Originally Posted by branchg

The Duchess also has an apartment in London of her own. She gives music lessons there and spends most of her time living independently of the royal family.

Here's a interview of her as a music teacher:

YouTube - Call me Katharine

[iceflower]

The Duke of Kent, President of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution,
officially opened the new Lifeboat Station at Shepards Wharf Marina,
Medina Road, Cowes, April 16, 2009.


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