Kate Out & About Today, Updates, & Kate’s Gloves Giveaway!

We hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season, it seems like a good time for a few updates and a little giveaway!

Our first update involves word that Kate and William joined the Queen and other Royal Family members at Sandringham the day after Christmas. More from Rebecca English in her Daily Mail story:

William and Kate arrived at Sandringham House, the Queen’s private estate in Norfolk, early on Boxing Day just in time for Prince’s annual pheasant shoot.

The couple were driven the 155 miles from Kate’s new family home in Berkshire to East Anglia, a journey which takes around three and a half hours, by their Scotland Yard police protection officers.

William, 30, then joined his grandfather and other relatives for a morning’s hunting while Kate, who is in the early stages of pregnancy, opted to remain at the house with the Queen as it was pouring with rain.

It’s unclear where Kate and William will spend New Year’s Eve. Kate was seen out and about today in Berkshire, where her parents live. A young woman named Jade Sinclair noted on Twitter that she saw Kate as she popped into a convenience store at a service station to buy a little something to nibble on.

Jade Sinclair Twitter Feed

Kate wore a skirt, boots, sweater, wide belt and scarf.

Jade Sinclair Twitter Feed

Thanks to WKW Facebook friend Ashley Marie, along with Caitlin 5670 and Royal Kate Debate on Twitter for letting us know Kate was out and about. We will update the post if we learn anything definitive about Kate and William’s New Year’s Eve.

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Other tidbits that may be of interest:

• The Telegraph reports Kate will be taking maternity leave from her official royal duties after having the baby, the story also suggests the Duchess “…may not go on any official tours abroad next year.”
• Vogue Australia posted its gallery of Kate’s 10 Best 2012 Looks
• Our pals at Socialite Life share Kate’s “Most Enviable Hair Moments of 2012,” click here for the story
• Huffington Post offers ten “10 Lame Outfits” Kate wore in 2012
• The Sun’s royal photographer, Arthur Edwards, has a fabulous story looking at the year in review, laden with his photos
• The folks at PopSugar have put together a visual feast, its Top 50 Photos from 2012 

We will be repeating our “Best of 2012” polls as well, they begin this week.

Two quick sale tips:

1. Our friends at Links of London have an enormous sale underway, with some pieces 50% off. This includes things in many collections, including pieces from the Sweetie line, like this bracelet
2. Kate’s Aquatalia ‘Regal” bootie is on sale at Amazon, almost 33% off. (I saw none in the espresso suede, but they are available in the leather.)

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And now to our giveaway, with thanks to the good folks at Cornelia James. Many will remember Kate wearing a distinctive pair of gloves on Remembrance Sunday. She was wearing the Cornelia James Pure Wool Glove with Side Bow. The photo below includes another color on the right to better show the bow detail, that detail really makes these a lovely accessory.

The gloves come in a wide range of colors and are priced at £52, roughly $80 at today’s exchange rate. The company tells me they are crafted from wool that is made at a mill in Yorkshire, then transformed into actual gloves at the Cornelia James atelier in Sussex.

Kate wearing gloves by the brand makes perfect sense, the company has held a Royal Warrant since 1979.

We are glove manufacturers by appointment to Her Majesty the Queen. Our association with the Queen goes back to 1947 when Norman Hartnell, who had been asked to make the young Princess going away outfits following her marriage to Prince Philip, asked Cornelia to make the gloves that she would wear.

The Queen has a style which is beyond fashion. An abiding memory of a Royal visit is the gloved hand waving at the window of the great black car and we are proud to have provided the glove on so many occasions. God Bless Her Majesty!

Kate’s gloves are also made in satin; in fact, Cornelia James manufactures them in satin for other resellers. We show them below in ivory.

Cornelia James

Cornelia James offers a broad variety of styles, including the Vorlauf Ski Mittens.

Cornelia James

The cashmere pashmina scarves look more-than-snuggly.

Cornelia James

We learn more from a Telegraph story about the company, the quotes are from company owners/employees Genevieve and Andrew Lawson:

“It’s not as glamorous as you’d think,” jokes Andrew. We post the gloves to the Palace via Royal Mail. Once, before the Queen was going on a tour to Korea, we got an urgent call saying that her glove order hadn’t arrived. I had to whizz up on the back of my motorbike and deliver them to the back door of Buckingham Palace.”

Every so often, Her Majesty posts gloves back to Lawson’s workshop for repairs. “It’s never anything major: “just a few stitches here or a small tear there,” she explains.

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