Kate and George’s Winter Playdate,Lindo Wing Royal Baby Plans, A Giveaway Winner and 5 Fun Factoids

Hello-hello, and welcome to another post filled with Bits and Bytes.  We begin with news about some new/old photos of Kate and Prince George enjoying a mother-son outing at a public park near the family’s Anmer Hall home.  Australia’s New Idea has the story in its April 20 issue. The pictures show Kate and George enjoying themselves at Snettisham Park, a working farm that also boasts lots of attractions for young and old, including a petting zoo.

Kate is in a Barbour we have seen before, worn for a stroll on the beach in Anglesey with Prince William, and also when out shooting back in 2008. The piece has a corduroy collar, double vents in the back, and adjustable tabs at the waist and cuffs.  For anyone looking to repliKate, similar pieces include the ladies Barbour Wildnerness at Philip Morris (£129), and the ladies Beadnell at Macy’s ($379). The Beadnell also comes in a summer weight that is a light brown, it is $229. Joules offers a budget-friendly style in a lighter brown, the Moredale, it runs $107.

Philip Morris & Sons (UK)/Macy’s/Joules USA

You can also find Barbour at both Orvis USA and Orvis UK.  The Duchess sported skinny jeans (specific pair unknown at this point) and her Le Chameau boots; we show them at Country Attire in the UK.

Country Attire

The wellies are also available at Zappos.

Prince George looks to be wearing a Columbia snowsuit, the brand’s Snuggly Bunny Bunting in “collegiate navy,” originally selling in the US at $95. The piece is down filled, with a wind- and water-repellant outer layer and fleece-lined interior. There is a full-length diagonal zipper for ease in getting the garment on and off, there are also fold-over hands and feet. It is sold out at most retailers, but we found it significantly discounted ($38) at flash sale site Gilt.com.

It is also still in stock in different colors and motifs at 6pm.com (prices run from $37.99 to $52.99), and at Little Trekkers ( £22.49).

Norbys Online

Our thanks to the lovely ladies at Prince George Pieces who located this item!

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Next, news that many may have already read, last week’s Palace briefing regarding plans for the Great Kate Wait Version 2.0. The plan is to avoid the hoopla and insanity of the original Great Kate Wait, hopefully minimizing the enormous crowd of media and the public amassed outside the hospital. Richard Palmer of the Daily Express reported via Twitter that parking restrictions at the Lindo Wing of St. Mary’s Hospital will go into effect tomorrow.

Richard Palmer, The Express (@RoyalReporter)

Other pertinent items coming out of the briefing:

• Kate is expected to stay at Kensington Palace as the baby’s due date approaches, so she is close to St. Mary’s Hospital. However, there are contingency plans should Kate go into labor while visiting her parents or at Anmer Hall in the country.
• William’s new job could have him as far away as a two-hour drive from the hospital (his work training is underway at three different airports).
• The Duke and Duchess are not hiring a maternity nurse, as was suggested in some publications.
• Once the new baby has arrived Kate & William will spend a few days at Kensington Palace with Prince George, so HM and others can meet the newest addition to the royal family. Then the family will relocate to Anmer Hall for the summer, if not longer.
• Richard Palmer reports is it “likely” Kate will attend Trooping the Colour, although there’s certainly no definite commitment.

Here’s our 5 Factoids In Advance of Kate & William’s Second Baby:

1. The Duke and Duchess still don’t know the child’s sex, they are waiting to find out like everyone else.
2. Kate gets a bit of a discount at the hospital this time, the following is from a UK Press Association story: “This time the Duchess will be given 10% off the Lindo Wing’s pricey fees as part of a loyalty discount to mothers who go back to have a second child.”
3. There hasn’t been a Princess of Cambridge for 182 years. From a Daily Mail story: “The last was King George III’s granddaughter Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge who was born in Hanover, Germany in 1833.”
4. Once the Queen and immediate family are informed of a birth, Kensington Palace will use Twitter and Instagram to announce the news to the world. Prince George was the first royal baby to have his arrival announced via Twitter.
5. Prince William plans to take the full two weeks paternity leave he is afforded in his new position with East Anglian Air Ambulance.

We have a few quick links to stories of possible interest in the last several days:

• The Daily Mail has an article pricing Kate’s maternity wardrobe, arriving at a total cost of £24,928. There is one error I noticed, the Madderson Naomi dress is shown at £450, Kate purchased the dress when it was on sale at Madderson, making the price £225.
• The Huffington Post has a story on Kate’s maternity fashions, it features input from our friend Carly, the fashion blogger behind Kate Middleton Style. 
• The Duchess Diary has a fun post looking back at William and Kate’s early years, you will find it here.
• ITV has 2 new puppets for its popular Newzoids show. More from HuffPo UK: “The six-part series promises a combination of high-energy puppetering, topical gags and pinpoint accurate impressions…” Yikes.

• The Daily Mail ran a piece from the UK Press Association (one of the agencies from whom we license photos) in anticipation of the impending royal arrival, it has some interesting morsels.
• Gordon Rayner has a bang-up story in today’s Telegraph, titled Royal Baby: 12 Things You Need to Know.

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Finally today, our winner in the giveaway for an autographed copy of The Royal We,the terrific new book from Jessica Morgan and Heather Cocks, also known as The Fug Girls.

“The Royal We”

Our big winner is Traci! Below, Traci’s comment on where she would like to be when reading the book.

Traci, if you could email me (Susan@WhatKateWore.com) with your pertinent info, we will get The Royal We headed in your direction! Our thanks to Heather and Jessica for sponsoring the giveaway!

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We’ll leave you with a cute story about Kate and George from Florida’s News-Press. Remember when Kate visited the Goring Hotel in March?

While at a party celebrating the Hotel’s reopening the Duchess chatted with Claudia Gordon, who was visiting London from Florida. The Fort Myers newspaper has more in this story:

“I asked her if Prince George was excited about the new prince or princess that was coming and she said yes and that he is a toddler and is talking and walking,” Gordon began. “Then she told me that his daddy, Prince William, was visiting China. After hearing this he (George) went to the china cabinet, opened it and proclaimed ‘daddy is not here.'”

Good for Prince George.