Katharine, Duchess of Kent, died on September 4 at the age of 92 and her funeral will be held today at Westminster Cathedral, where she was received on Monday

Katharine, Duchess of Kent, once shed light on her decision to retreat from royal duties in 2002, debunking speculations that she withdrew due to reclusiveness or agoraphobia.

Instead, the duchess spent 13 years teaching music at a primary school in Hull, a role she undertook discreetly and with the Queen’s full endorsement.

Katharine, who was married to the late Duke of Kent, the Queen’s cousin, explained to The Telegraph her choice to withdraw from public life and renounce her HRH title.

The Duchess spoke about her time teaching music at Wansbeck Primary School in Hull, stating that despite her former royal status, “I was just known as Mrs Kent,” to her students.

Reflecting on the anonymity she valued, she said: “Only the head knew who I was. The parents didn’t know and the pupils didn’t know. No one ever noticed. There was no publicity about it at all – it just seemed to work.

“Why I don’t know, but it just did. I taught children from the youngest possible age right until the end of primary school.

“I took them out into the town of Hull. I had a little choir and they sang in the hospital. A lot of the children came from single parent families and very deprived areas.

“It was very, very rewarding because even children from really tough backgrounds – the music did such wonderful things. It really did. They would get up and sing solos. I don’t remember a child ever saying they didn’t want to do their music.”

Katharine stressed that the Queen wholeheartedly backed her choice. “There was nothing that I felt I wanted to hide away from,” she revealed.

“It was just something that happened in my life. I was always – I wouldn’t say proud of it, but I was glad I did it. I was supported through it as well. The Queen said: ‘Yes, go and do it,’ so I did.”

Katharine passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by loved ones, on the evening of 4 September aged 92. Her coffin was received on Monday during a dignified ceremony at Westminster Cathedral ahead of her funeral service today, 16 September.

A devoted Catholic, the duchess made history as the first royal family member to embrace Catholicism in over 300 years when she converted in 1994, and it remained her wish to have her funeral at Westminster Cathedral.

Hers will be the first royal funeral held at the cathedral in Victoria since its completion in 1903. The King and Queen, along with other members of the royal family, will be present for the requiem mass.