Duchess of Gloucester: the hard-working royal you've never heard of

Outer royal 'never expected' to do duties but has stepped up to the plate

The Duchess of Gloucester
The Duchess of Gloucester has 'never given an interview or courted publicity'
(Image credit: Samir Hussein / WireImage)

You won't see her featured on The Crown and you've probably never heard of her, but the Duchess of Gloucester has undertaken more than 5,000 engagements as she has been thrust into the spotlight.

She "never expected to undertake royal duties" when she married Prince Richard of Gloucester, said The Times, but a twist of fate meant she would, and she is now supporting the Queen at public events while the King "scales back his work to look after his health".

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us

  Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.