Diamond Wedding Anniversary for the Duke and Duchess of Kent

The Duke and Duchess of Kent on their wedding day.

Today, the Duke and Duchess of Kent mark sixty years of marriage!

Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, and Katharine Worsley on the day of their engagement, March 1961.
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The engagement ring of Katharine, Duchess of Kent.
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La Duchesse Marina de Kent bras-dessus, bras-dessous avec son fils, le Prince Edward de Kent et sa fiancée Miss Katharine Worsley devant le perron de Kensington’s Palace où réside la Duchesse le 9 mars 1961 à Londres, Royaume-Uni.
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Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, met Katharine Worsley while the duke was based at Catterick Garrison, located near the bride’s family’s ancestral home, Hovingham Hall. Edward was the eldest son of Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark. Katharine was the only daughter of Sir William Worsley, 4th Baronet, and Joyce Brunner. On 8 March 1961, the engagement of the Duke of Kent to Katharine Worsley was announced at Kensington Palace. Edward gave Katharine an engagement ring consisting of an oval sapphire with round diamonds on either side and mounted in platinum.

England, 8th June 1961, The Duke of Kent is pictured arriving at York Minster for his marriage with Miss Katharine Worsley.
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Holding her bouquet of roses, Miss Katharine Worsley leaves her Hovingham Hall home for York Minster where she will become the Duchess of Kent on her marriage to Duke of Kent.
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Miss Katharine Worsley leaves her Hovingham Hall home en route to York Minster where she is to be wed to the Duke of Kent.
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The wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Kent.
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The wedding of Miss Katharine Worsley and the Duke of Kent at York Minster.
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A group picture taken at Hovingham Hall, near York (home of the bride’s parents) after the wedding in York Minster of the Duke of Kent and Miss Katharine Worsley.
Left to Right: Princess Alexandra of Kent, Mr and Mrs Marcus Worsley; Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent; Oliver Worsley; the Queen; Prince Michael of Kent; Sir William Worsley; Princess Anne; Lady Worsley; Prince Charles; the Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother; ; Mr and Mrs John Worsley. The bridal attendants in front are, left to right: pages William Worsley, Edward Becket and Simon Hay; and bridesmaids Katherine Ashley Cooper, Diana Worsley, Sandra Butter, Joanna Fitzroy, the Hon. Jane Spencer, Emily Briggs and Willa Worsley.
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The couple married on 8 June 1961 at York Minster in York. Edward and Katharine were wed by Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of York. Theirs was the first royal wedding to take place in York Minster since that of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault in 1328.

The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester pictured attending the wedding of Miss Katherine Worsley and the Duke of Kent at York Minster.
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Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, and Prince Charles are pictured arriving at York Minster for the marriage of Miss Katharine Worsley and the Duke of Kent.
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The guest list was a whos-whos of the British aristocracy and European Gotha. Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, attended together with her daughter Princess Alexandra and her son Prince Michael. The Queen Mother was present along with her two daughters and two sons-in-law, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh as well as Princess Margaret and Mr Antony Armstrong-Jones. Princess Mary, Princess Royal, and her son and daughter-in-law, the Earl and Countess of Harewood, were on hand. The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester together with their eldest son Prince William were also present. Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, was also in attendance. Foreign royals who came to witness the union of the Duke and Duchess of Kent included the following: Queen Mother Helen of Romania; Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain; Crown Prince Constantine of Greece and his sister Princess Sophia; Crown Prince Harald of Norway; Princess Margrethe of Denmark; Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, and his son Infante Juan Carlos, Prince of Asturias; Prince Tomislav and Princess Margarita of Yugoslavia; and Fürstin Margarita zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

The Duke of Kent and the bride Katherine Worsley arrive for the reception at Hovingham Hall, the home of the bride’s father after their wedding, on June 8, 1961 in York, United Kingdom.
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Mr Cyril Brown at work on the 3-tier, 105lb cake which was presented by a well known firm of London caterers for the wedding at York of Miss Katharine Worsley and the Duke of Kent. The cake, which is five feet in height, took two men six weeks to make. Decorated with delicate tracery in sugar, the cake incorporates the couple’s new Coat of Arms, hand painted in sugar panels on the base tier. The middle tier bears a St George and the Dragon motif and the Yorkshire rose and the monograms of the bride and groom – E in pale blue and K in pink – appear on the top tier. This is not the official wedding cake.
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