The Duke of Kent has continued a busy month of royal engagements, just weeks after the passing of his wife, the Duchess of Kent. According to the Court Circular, on Wednesday, Prince Edward, 90, attended a lunch at the Rubens at the Palace Hotel, just a stone's throw from Buckingham Palace, where he commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Polish Cultural Foundation.
It comes after he celebrated his milestone 90th birthday at Ognisko Polskie, the Polish Hearth Club in South Kensington, on 9 October. The Duke has a long-standing connection with Polish culture – his parents, Prince George, Duke of Kent and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, opened the club in 1940.
After the Second World War, George and Marina offered the Polish noble family Koziell-Poklewski to stay in their Coppins estate in Iver, Buckinghamshire. The young Prince grew up alongside Polish aristocrat Vincent Koziell-Poklewski, and formed a lifelong friendship until his passing in 2017. Earlier this year, he attended the annual Bal Polski in London, an event celebrating Polish culture and heritage.
Recent outings
Although the Duke has not officially retired from public duties, he has noticeably reduced the number of engagements he carries out. Last week, he joined the Queen's ex-husband, Tom Parker Bowles, at the funeral of Field Marshal the Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank, and also attended a beret parade at the Duke of York's Royal Military School in Dover, as well as a concert at Wigmore Hall.
Prior to his wife the Duchess of Kent's funeral at Westminster Cathedral on 16 September, his last official outing was in August when he presented the Duke of Kent medal to Mr. James Malcolmson of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Regimental Association.
The Duke is a cousin of the late Queen Elizabeth II, and his siblings are Prince Michael of Kent and Princess Alexandra. He and his late wife, Katharine, shared three children together – George, Earl of St Andrews, Lady Helen Taylor and Lord Nicholas Windsor.
In a rare interview with British Vogue, published this month, Lady Helen, 61, spoke about the late fashion designer Giorgio Armani's influence on her life and how he designed the Duchess of Kent's mother-of-the-bride mint green outfit for her wedding to Timothy Taylor in 1992.