The timeless style lessons we learnt from the Duchess of Kent

Elegant: The Duchess of Kent at a wedding in 1988, a restaurant in 1983 and a state banquet in 1969 - Popperfoto via Getty Images

There’s appropriate. There’s smart. There are lessons learned from studying the many pictures of oneself that are an inevitable part of a royal’s existence. And then there is that certain je ne sais quoi, or magic, that makes someone innately stylish. Without it, the first three can look staid and predictable.

Katharine Kent, as she preferred to be known, and who died on Friday at the age of 92, had style in spades, which is all the more fascinating because she was such a retiring person. Like the Princess of Wales, she always managed to look as though she was delighted to be wherever she was. Lesson one: a smile is a much underestimated style asset. It looks charming when you’re young. But when you’re old, it keeps your face from collapsing.

The Duchess in an asymmetric blue dress in 1983 - Popperfoto via Getty Images

Sweet but poised, even in early photographs where there are echoes of the youthful Grace Kelly in her dainty, blonde beauty and gracefulness, the Duchess favoured simple, uncluttered necklines. For her wedding in 1961 – a starry occasion attended by Noël Coward and Douglas Fairbanks Jr – she wore 273 metres of silk gauze designed by John Cavanagh – a regal, high-necked, slender bodiced dress that has withstood the test of time. Lesson two: every era has its gems and its duds. The former always feature a strong silhouette and zero fussiness; home in on those.

Katharine in statement powder pink sleeves at the Bartres Ball in 1987 - Popperfoto via Getty Images

The Duchess was a walking academy of style lessons, blending a minimalist appreciation of clean lines with flamboyant touches such as feathers or contrasting piping. Lesson three: classic should never be dull and can even be playful. Like her mother-in-law, Princess Marina of Kent, who featured on every best-dressed list in the 1930s and 1940s, Katharine, Duchess of Kent clearly always enjoyed wearing elegant, tailored, fashionable clothes.

Her daughter, Lady Helen Taylor, also cultivates a simple, minimalist style, less structured than her mother’s, and more flowing, reflecting fashion. Lady Helen was, for years, an Armani ambassador, while her mother bought from established British designers such as John Cavanagh and Hardy Amies.

Katharine at a state banquet hosted by the former Polish president Lech Walesa in 1991 - Getty Images

Yet despite dressing with a similar flair to Jackie Kennedy, and as impeccably as The Queen, the Duchess of Kent never sought the spotlight. Perhaps that’s why she was held in such deep affection despite rarely appearing in public. Brits tend not to like a show-off. But they do like a royal to look as though they’ve made an effort, although one must never give the impression one is vain. Lesson four: invest in quality designs that can be tweaked over the years.

The Duchess wearing a forest green ensemble at the Order of the Garter ceremony with Princess Diana in 1993 - Getty Images

Although seemingly reserved, the Duchess was not short on empathy. In a rare interview in 2016, she reflected on the moment after the women’s singles final at Wimbledon in 1993 when Jana Novotná broke down in tears after losing the match to Steffi Graff. The Duchess jettisoned royal tradition to place a comforting arm around the Czech player. “That’s what you do when people are crying,” she explained. “We are quite normal people. We do hug people who cry. It is a natural reaction.”

Somehow her warmth came across in her clothes: they tended to be demure and tailored, but always in soft, approachable colours with a surprising amount of white, which emphasised her almost ethereal blondeness. Lesson five: while professional stylists and image consultants can be extremely helpful, work out what you like before seeing one. It’s their job to refine your preferences, not invent a whole new identity that may not feel authentic.

The warmth of the Duchess, pictured here at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2000, often came across in her style choices - Colin Davey

The Duchess, who was married to the Queen’s first cousin, Edward, Duke of Kent, began withdrawing from public life in the 1990s. She converted to Catholicism in 1994, the first member of the Royal family to do so since the Act of Settlement in 1701. By the late 1990s she had taken up a role as a music teacher at a primary school where she was simply known as Mrs Kent and no one ever bothered her. There was presumably enough drama going on elsewhere in The Firm.

The Duchess at the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation in 2013 - Getty Images

The Duchess at the wedding of Edward van Cutsem and Lady Tamara Grosvenor in 2004 - Getty Images

Even when she had been ill and was clearly frail, every time the Duchess appeared in public, it was always in a lovely dress, and with a flourish. If anything, the older she got, the more sartorially daring she became. Her hats were borderline Beaton-esque at times. And she clearly kept an eye on contemporary designers.

In 2018 the Duchess wore a long floral Erdem dress to Harry and Meghan’s wedding – the then Duchess of Cambridge later wore the same style when she attended an evening reception at the Chelsea Flower Show. Lesson six: whatever your age, don’t let it dent your enjoyment of fashion.

The Duchess wore an Erdem dress to the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex... - Pool

... and the Princess of Wales (then the Duchess of Cambridge) wore it to the Chelsea Flower Show in 2019 - Geoff Pugh

The Duchess’s love of music ran as deep as her love of her family. She is survived by three living children, Lady Helen, George, Earl of St Andrews – whose wife, Sylvana, lectures, sans title, at Cambridge University (their daughter Lady Amelia Windsor is an ambassador to several brands) – and Lord Edward Windsor.

But fashion remained, as it always had been, a creative outlet for her, as well as a way of expressing her respect for the people she met in public and the events that she always enhanced with her presence.

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