RIP Mrs Kent

Shy Duchess who gave up royal life to teach in primary school

- BY JENNIFER NEWTON [e-mail]

THE King has led tributes to the Duchess of Kent, who has died at 92.

Charles said the shy royal, who worked as a music teacher at a state school, had a lifelong devotion to young people.

The Yorkshire-born Duchess - known simply as Mrs Kent at Wansbeck Primary in Hull - died peacefully at Kensington Palace on Thursday evening. A Buckingham Palace statement said the King and Queen fondly remembered her "lifelong devotion to the organisations she was associated with, her passion for music and her empathy for young people".

A formal notice announcing the death was placed on the railings of the Palace shortly after midday yesterday.