The former secretary has never given an interview or courted publicity, the Times reports, however, she has an extensive portfolio of over 60 charities, to which she devotes a large portion of her time promoting and supporting.
And whilst the King and Princess Kate’s absence may have sparked hopes for lesser-known royals to step up and help juggle the workload, in the case of the duchess and her husband, Prince Richard, the Duke of Gloucester, this prospect seems highly unlikely as of yet.
The 77-year-old has attended 16 engagements this year so far (as of March 25), and is on course for about about 60 this year, after carrying out 110 last year, according to reports.
Meanwhile, the duke, 79, has so far attended 35 engagements and is expected to undertake about 150 events, compared to 190 the year before.
But even this amount of engagements would be seen by many as ‘quite the number’ as Birgitte – born Birgitte Eva van Deurs Henriksen – never expected to fully devote herself to the monarchy when she married Prince Richard in July 1972.
The pair met a few years earlier in Cambridge, where Birgitte attended a finishing school and the then Prince Richard of Gloucester was an undergraduate reading architecture at Cambridge University.
Before Cambridge, the duchess was educated in Odense, where she was born, and at a finishing school in Lausanne, as well as the Scandinavian Academy of International Fashion and Design in Copenhagen.
However, six weeks after their wedding, his older brother and heir apparent to the dukedom, Prince William of Gloucester was killed in a flying accident near Wolverhampton.
Thus the couple became the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester upon Richard’s father, Prince Henry’s death in 1974.
Birgitte has always approached her sense of duty and work graciously, having previously said: “As members of the Royal Family and in our public life, The Duke and I have the huge privilege of continuously meeting people greatly committed to their work with charitable causes – many individuals being volunteers, doing all kinds of good works, giving of their time, talents and expertise.
“It is inspiring and immensely rewarding meeting these volunteers on my varying engagements in London and throughout the country.”
The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester have three children – The Earl of Ulster (Alexander Windsor), born in 1974, The Lady Davina Lewis, born in 1977 and The Lady Rose Gilman, born in 1980, all of whom are married and have children of their own.
