The Countess Wears Jonathan Saunders and Goat Fashion in Scotland, More Engagements for Kate’s Calendar

We are back with a look at what Kate wore for today’s engagements with Prince William in Scotland, as well as a few other updates. The day started with a visit to the Strathearn Community Campus, an area with a variety of leisure and sports facilities.

William and Kate also visited the recently restored MacRosty Park, unveiling a Fields in Trust plaque declaring the Park’s status as a protected green space. Simon Perry of People magazine shared this photo of Kate meeting and greeting the crowds.

The Countess (her title in Scotland) wore a coat by Scottish-born designer Jonathan Saunders; you can also see the Celtic brooch she is wearing, a private wedding gift.

Another look.

William and Kate were given a number of goodies for Prince George, more from royal photographer Mark Stewart’s Twitter feed:

That’s one well-dressed bear.

The couple paid a visit to the Famous Grouse, Scotland’s oldest distillery, where they learned more about the process of making distilled beverages.

The Daily Mail‘s Rebecca English and the Evening Standard’s Robert Jobson tweeted about the taste testing.

From the looks of things it probably isn’t for the faint of heart. William and Kate also officially opened the distillery’s new visitor center, the Famous Grouse Experience.

As mentioned above, Kate wore Jonathan Saunders, the designer’s ‘Athena Wool Jacquard Coat‘ from his autumn/winter 2013-2014 collection. Below, two different views of Kate in the coat.

From the Moda Operandi description of the piece: “This stripe wool jacquard coat from Jonathan Saunders features a notched collar, single breast pocket, full-length sleeves, flap front pockets, and a single vent at back.”

These photos better show the coat’s texture: a blend of 86% wool, 11% mohair, and 3% polyamide. You can also see how the buttons were matched to the different colors in the graduated stripe pattern.

The coat originally retailed at $2555. Below, the Athena in another colorway as shown at Net-a-Porter.

The Palace information on what the Duchess was wearing today only said she was in a Goat dress. There is such a broad variety of possibilities, we asked the folks at Goat if they knew which frock it was and they responded this way:

This is the Thea in ‘geranium,‘ a knee-length fitted dress with flared sleeves in 100% wool. The Thea also comes in a rich navy blue; it is priced at £420, about $700.

UPDATE MAY 29, 2020: Ultimately we saw Kate wear the geranium-colored dress again in July 2014 and it turned out to be a different style, Goat’s ‘Scarlett pleat front dress’ in ‘geranium.’  The Italian wool-crepe dress features a round neck, half sleeves, an optional belt, diagonal pleats/darts at the front waist area, a hidden back zipper and back slit. Evidently I never updated this post when we saw the dress again at the July School Visit.  

Many readers will recall Kate wearing the Goat’s ‘Redgrave’ coat for an engagement at the Child Bereavement Center last March.

The Redgrave remains available at Goat (£580, about $975 at today’s exchange rates) in Kate’s cream color, as well as Geranium, the color of today’s dress.

Kate accessorized with two standbys, her LK Bennett Avona clutch and Sledge heels.

For jewelry, Kate wore the previously mentioned Celtic brooch and her Kiki McDonough Citrine Drop earrings.

You can learn more about the brooch at My Small Obsessions post here, the design is a triskele/triscele pattern.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

One other note, a book that Kate wrote the foreword to, Living in the Slipstream, is out today.

More about the book from Robert Jobson’s story in the Evening Standard:

The book, “Living in the Slipstream” is a collection of stories told by the wives of Royal Air Force servicemen.

Kate, who lived with William while he worked as a helicopter pilot based at RAF Anglesey for three years, wrote: “I loved my time in Anglesey when William was serving with RAF Search and Rescue.

“I can’t pretend I didn’t feel anxious at times when William was on shift in howling gales, knowing he was out there flying in extremely challenging conditions, but he loved doing it and I felt incredibly proud of him.

Mr. Jobson notes profits from the book go the Royal Air Forces Association and the RAF Benevolent Fund.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Also today, more engagements added to Kate’s Calendar:

• Tuesday, June 10: Kate will be at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich for the launch of the America’s Cup exhibit.
• Thursday, June 12: Kate attends one of the Queen’s Garden Parties at Buckingham Palace, this one honors the 150th anniversary of the British Red Cross.

LINKAGE:

• the general news release about the couple’s visit may be read here, the Fields in Trust news release about the visit to MacRosty Park may be seen here
• Learn more about the Famous Grouse by visiting the company’s website here, following them here on Facebook, or checking their Twitter feed here 
• the BBC’s video of Kate and William greeting people can be seen here & their trip to the Famous Grouse distillery is viewable here
• the Daily Mail’s story and abundant photos may be seen here
• Victoria Murphy’s live blog for the Daily Mirror is here
• Kirsty McCormack’s story in the Daily Express about the couple’s whiskey tasting during their trip to the Famous Grouse Distillery is here