The year in royal work: The Duchess of Gloucester
The Danish-born duchess is the focus of Day 2 of my year-end work analysis
THE DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER
If there are two words to capture the Duchess’s personality and role within the family, they must be “smiling and stalwart.” In November, she subbed at the last minute when Queen Camilla got a chest infection and had to bow out of planting a Cross of Remembrance in front of Westminster Abbey. Look at Court Circular when big receptions are held at Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle, and nine times out of 10, you’ll see her name as part of the royal party.
She’s been married for 52 years, has three children and six grandchildren. She lives in the Kensington Palace complex, having downsized from the grand Apartment 1 to the cozier Old Stables in 2019.
It’s a far cry from her life as a secretary before entering the royal family. In 1972, Danish-born Birgitte van Deurs married a British architect who happens to be a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. Born in 1944, HRH Prince Richard is the younger son of Elizabeth II’s uncle and aunt, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.
Their country wedding was so informal that her future mother-in-law picked the flowers for the bouquet. Six weeks after their marriage, his elder brother, William, died in a flying accident. Their private careers ended as they became full-time royals and assumed the titles of Duke and Duchess of Gloucester upon the death of his father in 1974.
Now 78, she’s 13 months older than Queen Camilla and part of a coterie of four working royals who are in their 70s (Charles, Camilla, Anne, Birgitte). Her husband turned 80 in August.
Over the past eight years, she’s averaged 90 engagements a year. This year, she’s done 88, as of December 1. While lower than the past two years, that level of royal work is more than 2019 (the 2020s have proved to be so unusual — a wordwide pandemic, the Sussexes leaving, Elizabeth II’s death, Charles and Kate’s cancer — that I often find myself looking at data from those pre-pandemic years when evaluating trends).
While the Duchess of Gloucester didn’t undertake any foreign travel for her royal duties in 2024, she does spend most of her time outside royal residences. More than 70 percent of her engagements occurred in public. Kensington Palace, her home in London, is where she usually meets with leaders of her charities and other organizations.
Nearly half of all engagements are in support of those philanthropic efforts — especially sports (she’s honorary president of the Lawn Tennis Association and patron of the Civil Service Sports Council) and various music charities (she’s president of the Royal Academy of Music and royal patron of the Cathedral Music Trust).
She also has a rather fabulous collection of royal jewellery. So watch for what she wears to Tuesday’s state banquet for the Emir of Qatar.
My latest appearance on Global TV’s The Morning Show on December 2:
My latest article for Zoomer: ‘Cooking & the Crown’: Inside Tom Parker Bowles’ New Cookbook, Plus 4 Royal Recipes
“You may be surprised by the simplicity of many of the recipes,” explains Parker Bowles in his book. Indeed, his first breakfast option is the porridge that his mother, Queen Camilla, eats every day in winter along with a teaspoon of honey from royal beehives. “Food is the great leveler. I want to strip away the pomp and circumstance and get right to the meat of the matter – a collection of wonderful recipes that you really want to cook from over two centuries of regal eating.”