London, 14 November 2025 – At 14:17 GMT, in a moment that will be etched into royal history as one of the bleakest on record, Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, appeared alone in the White Drawing Room of Buckingham Palace to deliver an announcement no one inside the family believed they would have to make so soon.
Her face ashen, eyes hollow with exhaustion and grief, the normally unflappable Princess Royal gripped the lectern with white-knuckled hands. Behind her, the portrait of Queen Victoria seemed to watch in silence. For almost ten seconds she could not speak.
Then, in a voice that wavered only once, she began:
“It is with the most profound sorrow that I must inform the nation… that His Royal Highness Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, passed away peacefully at Kensington Palace at 13:48 this afternoon. He was surrounded by his immediate family.”
A single tear escaped as she continued, almost inaudibly: “He never recovered from losing Katharine. He simply… closed his eyes and followed her.”
The room behind the cameras erupted into muffled sobs. The Countess of Wessex, Sophie, collapsed into the arms of an equerry, her cries audible even on the live feed. Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, stood rooted to the spot, face drained of colour, unable to move or speak. Only Princess Alexandra, the Duke’s younger sister, remained composed enough to place a steadying hand on Princess Anne’s shoulder as the broadcast ended after just 63 seconds.
A love story that refused to end
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, first cousin of the late Queen Elizabeth II, was 90 years old. He had been in visible decline since the death of his beloved wife, Katharine, Duchess of Kent, on 2 November 2025 – just twelve days ago – after a cruel and rapid battle with pancreatic cancer.
Those closest to the couple say the Duke’s heart broke the moment Katharine took her final breath in their apartment at Kensington Palace. He reportedly refused food, spoke little, and spent hours sitting beside her empty side of the bed, holding the small silver locket she had worn every day of their 64-year marriage.
“He told me on Tuesday, ‘I have no purpose now. My darling went ahead to prepare the way, and I am late,’” a longtime member of his household staff revealed, voice breaking. “We thought he meant in spirit. We never imagined… today.”
Medical sources confirm the Duke suffered a massive cardiac arrest shortly after 13:30. Despite the immediate presence of his doctor and the rapid response of the London Ambulance Service, resuscitation attempts were ceased after 18 minutes at the express wish previously recorded in his advanced directive: “If Katharine is gone, do not prolong the inevitable.”
The final days
Eyewitnesses inside Kensington Palace describe a vigil of almost unbearable tenderness in the week following the Duchess’s funeral.
- The Duke insisted on keeping Katharine’s dressing gown laid across her chair “in case she feels the cold.”
- He played their wedding music – Elgar’s Nimrod – on repeat at low volume every evening.
- On Wednesday he asked for the window to be opened “so she can find me more easily when she comes back.”
Yesterday afternoon he received a private visit from King Charles and Queen Camilla. Royal aides say His Majesty held his cousin’s hand for nearly an hour while the two men wept in silence. As the King rose to leave, the Duke reportedly whispered, “Tell Lilibet and Philip I shan’t keep them waiting much longer.”
A lifetime of quiet duty ends
Born on 9 October 1935, Prince Edward George Nicholas Paul Patrick Windsor was never meant to be in the direct line of succession, yet he carried out more than 140 official engagements a year well into his late eighties. He was Colonel of the Scots Guards, President of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, and – perhaps most famously – the reassuring presence who stood behind the Queen at thousands of events for seven decades.
His marriage to Katharine Worsley in 1961 was one of the great love stories of the modern monarchy. Despite her eventual withdrawal from public life and conversion to Catholicism, the couple’s devotion never wavered. Friends say the Duke’s proudest moment was watching his wife receive the Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order in 2019 – an honour he had quietly campaigned for years to ensure she received.
The Royal Family in pieces
Today’s announcement has delivered a second hammer blow to a family still reeling from recent losses and crises.
Princess Anne, chosen to speak because of her reputation as the most stoic of the late Queen’s children, was herself barely holding together. Sources say she had to be helped from the room immediately after the broadcast ended.
The King, already grieving the sudden death of Prince Andrew earlier this morning (see separate report), was informed while in a scheduled audience at Clarence House. He is understood to have cancelled all engagements for the remainder of the month.
Prince William, now heir to the throne, issued a short written statement from Adelaide Cottage:
“My great-uncle Edward was the definition of duty and decency. He and Katharine showed us all how to love quietly, faithfully, and completely. We are heartbroken.”
What happens now
The Duke of Kent will lie in repose privately at the Royal Chapel of All Saints, Windsor, from Monday. A funeral service, attended by the entire Royal Family and representatives of the 170 charities he supported, will take place next Friday at St George’s Chapel. He will be buried beside his Duchess in the Royal Burial Ground at Frogmore – together again, as he wished.
Flags across the United Kingdom, already at half-mast for Prince Andrew, will remain lowered. For the first time since 1952, two members of the Royal Family will be mourned simultaneously.
As London falls silent tonight, one image lingers: the Duke’s last handwritten note, found on his bedside table this afternoon, addressed simply “To My Darling K.”
“I have turned out the light, my love. Wait for me on the terrace. I am coming home.”