Kate Brings Back Mulberry Dress for Museum Appearance and Speech

Kate elected to bring back another frock for today’s opening of a new Gallery at the Natural History Museum. 

The Duchess joined other guests, museum officials, and curators at this evening’s event commemorating the new Treasures Gallery. Below we see Kate between Doctor Paul Barrett (left) and the Museum Director, Doctor Michael Dixon (right).

Via Paul Harrison, Sky News (@SkyNewsRoyal)

The Gallery will be a permanent exhibit at the museum, housing 22 of the Museum’s most precious and unusual artifacts. CNN’s David Wilkinson shared this image on Twitter, giving a sense of the atmosphere inside the Museum for tonight’s party.

David Wilkinson, CNN Twitter Feed (@Wilkinson_David)

This story in the Express offers insight on items in the Collection:

• John James Audubon’s The Birds Of America: The world’s most expensive book (a copy sold in 2012 for £7,321,250) was published between 1827 and 1838 and is famous for its life-size illustrations.
• Barbary lion skull: The skull of a north African lion that lived in the Tower of London in the 13th or 14th century.
• Joseph Banks’s herbarium sheet: Samples from Captain Cook’s first voyage to Australia in 1770.
• Neanderthal skull: The first Neanderthal skull discovered is of an adult female and about 50,000 years old

Sir David Attenborough, the renowned naturalist and broadcaster, was also supposed to be on hand for tonight’s festivities, but he was under the weather and unable to attend. His absence resulted in Kate being asked to step up and speak about the new Gallery, Paul Harrison of Sky News shared this image of Kate awaiting her turn at the podium.

Via Paul Harrison, Sky News (@SkyNewsPaul)

More from the Daily Mail on Kate’s remarks:

The Natural History Museum has a very special place in the heart of this nation. William and I are just two of millions of people who have passed through these doors, and marvelled at the spectacular wonders of the natural world, housed in this beautiful gallery.

I care passionately about what this museum stands for. Being here tonight, seeing some of nature’s finest treasures, reminds me just how precious and awe inspiring the natural world is.

Here is a quick refresher on the Full Pleated Shirt Dress: it features a Peter Pan collar, pleats just about everywhere, and long sleeves gathered at the cuff. The 100% silk material has Mulberry’s Peace and Love pattern woven into it, the color is officially called cabbage and the frock originally sold at $2200/£1400. (The dress is no longer in stock at any retailers we surveyed.) 

Mulberry.com

Kate accessorized with her Jimmy Choo ‘Cosmic’ pumps. While the dress may be long gone, the shoes remain available at Net-a-Porter, they are priced at $695.

Jimmy Choo/Net-a-Porter

It appears that Kate was sporting a new pair of earrings, more on that if we are able to dig up proper photos and/or more information.

It was a fine appearance for the Duchess, especially when considering she had to assume a speaking role at the last moment. Despite being an enormous Mulberry fan I never was very fond of this particular frock, that remains the case. But then, last time I checked “dress to make WKW happy” wasn’t in Kate’s job description, I need to remind myself of this fact occasionally.

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Also today, two more appointments have been added to Kate’s calendar, the first is this Friday, November 30th, when the Duchess returns to her old prep school, St. Andrew’s in Pangbourne, Berkshire. Kate will meet the girls Hockey Team, watch games indoors, and she will also open a new Astroturf pitch outside. Below, images from St. Andrews Pangbourne, I imagine the pitch being replaced could be the one shown below with the girls playing hockey.

Via St. Andrews

Additionally, Wednesday December 5th Kate takes part in the annual ICAP Charity Day, put on by the ICAP brokerage house.  On this day the company donates 100% of its revenue and commissions to charities, notables like Kate “help” the traders by closing deals with customers, generally via phone. Just some of the celebrities who took part in last year’s Charity Day:

Via ICAP Charity Day

Ms. Streep was in the firm’s New York offices.

Via ICAP Charity Day

Last year £12.75/US$20 million was raised, that’s no small amount of money going to charity. Two of the charities being supported this year are The Art Room, of which Kate is Royal Patron and Tusk, William is Patron of this organization.

Kate should be able to get some fairly good advice on how things work at ICAP’s Charity Day from several family members.

Via

Prince Charles, Camilla, and Prince William have all participated in previous Charity Days.

We’ll be back tomorrow, Kate and William have a full slate of activities in Cambridge and Peterborough, starting at 10:20am. (That’s 5:20am ET/2:20am PT.)

LINKAGE:

• Visit the Natural History Museum website here, visit its Facebook page here, read more about the Treasures Gallery here
• Watch the BBC story about the Museum’s Treasures
• Visit the ICAP Charity Day page here, or follow its Facebook page here
• the Daily Mail’s story about today’s event is here
• see ITV’s story about tomorrow’s events, it includes the timing of things