From royal to music teacher

From royal to music teacher

The Duchess of Kent has revealed how she secretly spent eight years as a school music teacher.

When ill health caused her to vanish from the royal circuit in 1977, many thought she had become a recluse.

But speaking to ITVs Alan Titchmarch, the Duchess, 78, explained she was actually teaching at Wansbeck Primary School, in Hull where she was known simply as plain Mrs Kent.

The royal, a pianist and violist, said she had dreamed of playing Carnegie Hall.

But she joked: You go gradually downhill and I ended up teaching in Hull.

She said music had the power to help children get over the Berlin Wall that surrounds sink estates.

The Duchess added: Some of the children I taught havent necessarily become musicians. But it gave them confidence, some to join the Army, some to go to university, which they might not have done otherwise.
- www.mirror.co.uk