How did it feel to be the first Royal to publicly convert to Roman Catholicism? The decision to convert to Roman Catholicism was entirely personal. Nevertheless, I had wonderful support and understanding from family and friends and just felt happy that I had done the right thing in my life.
Exactly three years ago, we featured an exclusive interview with HRH the Duchess of Kent in our Christmas edition of Faith Matters . In the light of her death, it was suggested to us that we should re-run part of our interview with her from 2022 in this edition. It is well known that the Duchess of Kent became a Roman Catholic in January 1994. Whilst her decision hit the headlines, it also revealed a woman deeply engaged with her faith and her personal relationship with God. A window into her thinking came up in an interview with Mary Riddell in the 1990s, when she commented, ‘I just love people, I value them. What’s the world about? Not possessions but people caring for one another. I think it’s important for people to keep a sense of wonder.’ This sense of the importance of people and faith came across when the Duchess contacted us in response to our request for an interview. Her warmth and the kindness in her voice was evident. We put a few questions to her:
Photograph provided by the household of the Duchess of Kent
Was your conversion something completely personal to you or did you meet anyone or read/listen to anything that inspired you to become a Catholic? I had been going regularly to Westminster Cathedral to help out with providing meals for homeless people and I made many friends there. Cardinal Hume was one of them and he
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