Princess Eugeniehaspaid a heartfelt tribute to the Duchess of Kent following her funeral yesterday – sharing an image from the late royal’s wedding in 1961.
Eugenie, 35, took to Instagram to re-post a photograph shared by the royal family on Instagram, which honoured the 91-year-old Duchess, who died on Thursday September 4th.
Members of the Royal Family attended the funeral at Westminster Cathedral on Tuesday to say goodbye to Katharine, including the Duke of Kent – who appeared emotionalas he laid his wife of 64 years to rest.
Other senior royals in attendance included the King, the Prince andPrincess of Wales, the Princess of Royal, as well as Eugenie’s father Prince Andrew and her mother Sarah Ferguson.
Eugenie, who didn’t attend the funeral, shared the black-and-white photo of the late Duchess looking resplendent on the day of her wedding to the Duke of Kentin 1961.
She included a love heart emoji in the post, which was shared to her Instagram Stories, and added text that read: ‘Remembering The Duchess of Kent.’
The image showed Katharine, who preferred to be called ‘Mrs Kent’, smiling over her shoulder on her wedding day, while dressed in a long-sleeve white lace gown and carrying her bouquet as her long veil trailed behind her.
Next to her, looking down at his bride, was the Duke of Kent. The couple were married at York Minster in York; the Duchess had insisted they wed in her home county of Yorkshire despite the fact the cathedral had not been used as a royal wedding venue for hundreds of years.
The photo shared by Eugenie was part of a series of images posted by the official Instagram account for the Royal Family.
The photo, originally posted by the royal family’s official Instagram account, was reshared this morning by Princess Eugenie. The image depicts the Duchess of Kent, who was born Katharine Worsley, on her wedding day at Hovingham Hall in June 1961
The post included pictures from throughout the late Duchess’ life, from welcoming her and Prince Edward’s first child, George Windsor and supporting Wimbledon, to meeting Nelson Mandela and embarking on royal trips to India and West Africa.
One photo showed a memorable moment between the Duchess and Czech tennis player JanaNovotná in the 1993 Wimbledon championship, after the latter lost the Wimbledon Ladies’ Final.
A tearful Jana was pictured being embraced by the Duchess, who displayed a ‘moment of compassion remembered forever’.
In another image, the young Duke and Duchess are pictured beaming as they looked into one another’s eyes and posed arm-in-arm after announcing their engagement.
‘Proudly of Yorkshire heritage, Her Royal Highness became a working Member of The Royal Family following her marriage, and in 1977 she was created a Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO),’ the Royal Family’s Instagram account wrote in the caption.
‘For the last three decades of her life, The Duchess focused on her passion for music, stepping aside as a working Member of The Royal Family to focus on her private and charitable work in this sector.’
Despite Eugenie’s heartfelt post, all eyes were on her father, the Duke of York, being shunned by the Royal Family after the Duchess of Kent’s funeral.
His attendance at the sombre event was expected, but it was clear that some members of the family wanted to avoid being seen speaking to him in public.
The King pictured with the Prince and Princess of Wales at the service on Tuesday
Andrew lingered awkwardly in the doorway of Westminster Cathedral as the rest of the party walked ahead to say their goodbyes.
It comes amid ongoing revelations linked to Andrew’s relationship with the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, six years after the scandal saw the Duke forced to stand down from public duties.
Historian Andrew Lownie’s forensic biography of Andrew, called Entitled, also caused shockwaves within the Royal Family – with some passages having to be removed for legal reasons, which the author said were enough to bring down the monarchy.
At one point yesterday Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York leant forwards to speak to William, who turned briefly to talk to her, as did his wife Kate.
But it was clear the couple were far from keen to prolong the conversation, aside from pleasantries.
Indeed, for much of the time, the heir to the throne, jaw clenched, appeared decidedly uncomfortable.
Princess Eugenie’s father, the Duke of York was seen lingeringawkwardly in the doorway of Westminster Cathedral as the rest of the Royal Family walked ahead to say their goodbyes
At one point, Prince Andrew tried jovially to engage his nephew in conversation. William glanced at him and then studiously looked forward, thin-lipped, rubbing his nose and rocking on his heels.
Lip reader Jacqui Press told the Royale of the conversations that Andrew engaged in after the service, which, she claimed, included pleasantries, such as ‘It was a beautiful service’ and ‘Aren’t we lucky with the weather today’.
The Waleses made a notably quick exit after the King had got into the State Bentley, but not before His Majesty appeared to offer a few warm words to his daughter-in-law, who smiled and walked over, before kissing him on each cheek and curtsying.
As the King drove off, the Duchess of York was seen waving somewhat over-enthusiastically at his car, before also dropping a neat bob.
Prince Andrew, meanwhile, exchanged some words with his sister, Princess Anne, thanked staff and headed off towards his car.
According to the lip reader, the Princess Royal told her brother, ‘Let’s walk this way’. Andrew later turned to Anne and said, ‘Shall [we] go that way and we can leave there?’ He later questioned, ‘Where is she? Oh, over there, is she coming?’
Elsewhere, he thanked the priests and later turned to a different attendee before questioning whether they had been introduced before, Press said.
He was forced to wait at the side of the building, fiddling with the tails of his morning coat, as his ex-wife continued to chat merrily on the steps.
Andrew stepped down as a working royal over the scandal involving his friendship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, but he still attends private family events.
