The Duchess In Tory Burch & New Earrings for Mental Health Awareness Engagement

Kate wore Tory Burch for today’s engagement with Prince William. The two were at London’s Harrow College, taking part in a number of events marking World Mental Health Day, an annual awareness event designated by the World Health Organization. A little more about today’s importance from WHO:

World Mental Health Day is observed on 10 October every year, with the overall objective of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilizing efforts in support of mental health.

The Day provides an opportunity for all stakeholders working on mental health issues to talk about their work, and what more needs to be done to make mental health care a reality for people worldwide.

The Duke and Duchess’s activities were focused on the stigma surrounding mental health issues, particularly with children and young people. More from The Mirror:

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are marking World Mental Health Day by meeting young people who have battled the issue and are now helping others.

They are visiting Harrow College in north-west London to chat to young people who volunteer with the charity Mind, or the anti-stigma campaign Time to Change, after having dealt with their own mental health problems.

Kate and William met with “Champions” of Time to Change; the organization works to fight the stigma surrounding mental health issues; Kensington Palace shared these photos of Kate and William in breakout sessions. Once again, this is an event that syncs with William and Kate’s continued emphasis on mental health issues, especially young people impacted by the illness and accompanying stigma. William recently attended a workshop on bullying, and many readers will remember Kate’s visit to the Anna Freud Centre.

The primary host for today’s events was Mind, a mental health support group. Here is the organization’s mission statement:

Paul Farmer, the CEO of Mind, had this to say in remarks made during today’s events, he is addressing Kate and William:

“By helping us to put the spotlight on mental health, you are helping us to send an important and urgent message to the world that it is time to change our attitudes about mental health problems. One in four people will experience a mental health problem, so that means every family, every school and every college, and every workplace. Today’s event marks a coming of age for mental health-it is coming out of the shadows and now beginning to receive the attention it truly deserves.”

This will continue to be an important issue for Kate and William. Simon Perry reports in a story for People magazine.that the upcoming trip to Scotland will have activities related to the issue.

Saturday’s visit to Harrow College in northwest London is the latest in the series of visits that Kate, through her work with vulnerable children, and William, with his focus on bullying and child bereavement, have committed to.

And later this month, they will head north to Dundee in Scotland for a day of events, much of which will have a mental health theme, PEOPLE understands. “There will be plenty more from both of them through the autumn over this issue,” a royal source tells PEOPLE. “The couple feel there is a real momentum building and people are ready to talk about it. They are feeling energized about it.”

By their actions, and their visits, and often behind-the scenes work, the couple, along with Prince Harry, are starting to have an impact in getting more people to recognize the issue, experts believe.

In the US Mental Health Awareness Day is part of Mental Health Awareness Week, running from October 4 – October 10. This year organizers also focused on the issue of the stigma associated with mental illness, promoting #IAmStigmaFree as a hashtag on social media.

As noted above Kate wore Tory Burch today, the designer’s Paulina dress. We originally saw the dress in April of last year, during the New Zealand/Australia tour.

The event was a playdate for Prince George, hosted by Plunket, the organization assisting families with the development, health and wellbeing of children under 5.

The  ‘Paulina” Open Knit Dress has long been sold out; it was most recently priced at $390 at Net-a-Porter.

The dress was described this way on the Nordstrom website:

A lacy latticework pattern and fringed trim add well-measured interest to a jewel-neck dress softly flared in front by inverted pleats.

A better look at the fabric and some of the detailing, like the banded waist and fringed hems.

The garment is made of a fabric blend that I am guessing makes it very comfortable and easy to wear: 65% polyester/25% rayon/14% cotton. (The percentages don’t add up properly, but that’s how the dress was described at Nordstrom.)

Kate accessorized with her go-to heels, the Power pumps from Stuart Weitzman.

She carried another favorite piece, her Bayswater clutch by Mulberry. (Kate’s bag is suede, the product shown below is leather.)

Kate debuted a new pair of earrings from Kiki McDonough.  The Duchess wore the ‘Lauren’ yellow gold and pavé diamond style.

From the product description:

Beautiful and elegantly small these 18ct yellow gold and pavé diamond leaf motif drop earrings are from our new Lauren Collection inspired by the British ballerina Lauren Cuthbertson.

The earrings are priced at £2200, that is roughly $3400 at today’s exchange rates. Anna of My Small Obsessions merits praise for her ID of these, many of us had gone down the path thinking they were Kate’s Vinnie Day leaf earrings, shown below. (Please see our editor’s note below about the earrings.)

Another whiz on Twitter, my friend Joyce, noted that Kate enjoys jewelry with a leaf motif.  I hadn’t thought of it that way, but she’s right, Kate is fond of leaves. Others have pointed out there are three acorns in the Middleton coat of arms, there is a theme here that we have seen previously, and will certainly see moving forward.

After Kate and William departed today Mind CEO Paul Farmer had high praise for them; more in this People story from Simon Perry:

“I was really very impressed with their huge commitment and understanding around the issue. And their interest in the young people that they spoke to was hugely impressive.

“They are keen to learn about it,” he added.

This was a solid look for Kate, the dress is one that suits her, and she looks very comfortable in it.

It’s possible we will see you later today. My gut instinct is that Kate will be with William tonight at the Rugby match between Wales and Australia. It’s merely a feeling and nothing more – I could well be wrong. But I know that around 11:30am  I will park myself in the Corner Condo here on Planet Kate. The match starts at 16:45 London time, that is 11:45am EDT/8:45am PDT.  If the Duchess does attend the match I will post post updates on our Facebook page and Twitter.

One other quick thought: we scoured the online ads for Columbus Day Sales & Savings Opportunities; the info/links are in Thursday’s post.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Kiki McDonough initially thought Kate’s earrings were the Lauren Yellow Gold Leaf Earrings, but it was ultimately determined they were the pavé diamond pair. The post has been edited to reflect the newer information.

LINKAGE:

• The UK’s Mental Health Foundation website is here, its Twitter feed is here
• Read the WHO’s info about World Mental Health Day here
• In the US, visit the Mental Health Awareness Week info here & read about the Stigma Free Pledge here
• Learn more about Mind by visiting its website here, its Facebook page is here and Twitter feed may be seen here, the group’s live blog of today’s event is here
• Visit the Mindkit website here, you can visit the organization’s Facebook page here,
• The Time to Change website is here, the group’s Facebook page is here
• The Mirror’s story is here, The Daily Mail‘s is here