Kate was in some old favorites as she and William undertook a day of engagements in North Wales.
Of course, ‘old’ is a relative term, Kate’s Reiss coat only dates back to 2010 and the Aquatalia boots are from the same era. Today’s first stop was in Caernarfon. Photos from Richard Palmer of The Express show the duo enjoying the Castle Square walkabout.
Sea Cadets and guides were also among those welcoming the royals. While speaking with several Kate talked about scouting for George and Charlotte; Victoria Murphy’s story in The Mirror has more:
Kate told guides Cadi Evans, 12, and Molly Swann, 17, from 10th Bangor group that she “really enjoyed” helping out at a scout group across the water on Anglesey when they lived on the island.
“She said that she needs to put Charlotte’s name down for Rainbows,” said Caernarfon’s county commissioner for Girl Guides Jill Wilkinson.
“She really enjoyed helping with the scout group and said she will get George for scouting.”
Simon Perry of People magazine reports the couple was “So happy to be back in Wales….. Kate says she’d like to bring George and Charlotte next time.” Kate and William lived in Anglesey, Wales for almost four years, when William was stationed there with the RAF.
The couple continues their focus on the mental well-being of young people, beginning their day at GISDA, a charity working to reduce the homelessness problem among young people ages 16-25. The organization helps with basic life skills like budgeting, and offers training in a variety of fields.
Kate and William visited the organization’s ‘Te a Cofi,’ a café and catering training centre providing life experience and employment skills. One of GISDA’s partner organizations dealing with homeless issues is Centrepoint; many readers will recognize that name because of Princess Diana’s work with the charity, as well as William’s efforts, he is Centrepoint’s patron. In fact, the Duke spoke about a homeless crisis for youth at last night’s first-ever Centrepoint Awards. More on today’s visit at GISDA from Victoria Murphy’s story in The Mirror.
During the chat with the centre’s patrons and staff, they took time to speak with all the young people.
Chief executive Sian Tomos said: “They were warm and were given the fill impression of what it’s like to be homeless in rural areas as opposed to a rural area.”
When leaving GISDA Kate was presented with a bouquet of flowers by 3-year-old Theo Hayward.
The next stop for Kate and William was a local branch of Mind, “the mental health charity” that believes that no one should have to face a mental health crisis alone. You might recall William and Kate’s engagement for World Mental Health Day in October when the pair attended events hosted by Mind at Harrow College. Today the couple saw a photography exhibition designed to offer young people a way to talk about mental health.
Then it was a drive to the Towers Outdoor Residential Outdoor Education Centre. While on their to the Centre they saw a rainbow stretched across the sky; Kensington Palace posted a photo on Instagram.
Towers Centre offers courses for students & others in “Primary Schools, Secondary Schools, Special Education, Youth Groups, Teachers and Youth Leaders schools, youth groups, teachers and youth leaders.” Towers programs in rugged Snowdonia National Park include hiking, climbing, water sports and other outdoor activities. Towers also offers courses for those with mobility challenges, using courses designed to accommodate wheelchairs. The Education Centre is run by Mountain Rescue England and Wales, William is that group’s patron.
Other young people were also on hand, more from The Express:
The centre was running a day to celebrate local charities close to the couple’s hearts.
Mountain Rescue Chairman Mike France, 63, said: “William asked us if we could help some of their vulnerable children from WellChild, Child Bereavement, Place2Be and Centrepoint, which we were delighted to do.
Kate and William were in casual clothes for an abseiling adventure at the Centre as seen in these photos from The Sun’s Emily Andrews.
In the US abseiling is often called rappelling. By whatever name you call it, the sport is very popular. More from ITV Wales:
Their Royal Highnesses also took part in a spot of competitive abseiling.
As the pair egged each other on, William took the lead whilst Kate lowered her husband down the 12 metre wall from below.
Their instructor asked the Duchess “Is the insurance good?” To which she replied “I’m quite enjoying this actually, for once I’m in control”.
Then it was Kate’s turn. It turns out it was Kate’s first-ever try at the sport, more from The Daily Mail’s story:
The Duchess of Cambridge showed her daring side as she took part in abseiling and rock climbing on a visit to an activity centre in North Wales on Friday.
With a big smile on her face, the mother-of-two proved she isn’t afraid of heights as she navigated a wooden wall backwards.
As she went backwards over the edge of the 40 foot abseiling wall, she giggled: ‘This is the aggghhhhh moment!’
The Duchess seemed quite adept at the activity.
The pair took another route back up to the top of the climbing wall.
Some of the Cambridge’s most relaxed, vibrant public moments come when the two are outside, in the elements.
The final stop for the day was at the Men’s Shed Cymru. The Men’s Shed program, or movement, is fascinating. The group describes itself as “…a larger version of the typical man’s shed in the garden – a place where he feels at home and pursues practical interests with a high degree of autonomy.” Below William greets well-wishers as he arrives with Kate for their visit.
From a portion of the Cymru Shed description:
Men’s Sheds welcome everyone who have time on their hands whether that’s due to unemployment, retirement, bereavement, disability or simply if someone’s new to an area and are looking for ways of finding out about what’s going on within a community.
A Men’s Shed offers this to a group of such men where members share the tools and resources they need to work on projects of their own choosing at their own pace and in a safe, friendly and inclusive venue. They are places of skill-sharing and informal learning, of individual pursuits and community projects, of purpose, achievement and social interaction.
While visiting the Men’s Shed Kate and William were given gifts and shared a bit about Christmas; more from The Express story:
Prince George is getting excited about Christmas and is getting on well with his adorable little sister, the Duchess of Cambridge revealed today. Kate revealed the young family is thriving when she visited a men’s mental health support group in Wales with Prince William.
Asked about her plans for Christmas and how her children are doing, she said: “I haven’t started yet, but George will be starting to talk about Christmas soon.
The Duchess…was given a present of a knitted woollen sheep for each child – one with a blue ribbon for George and one in pink for Charlotte.
Apparently Prince George is fond of helicopters, we return to the The Express story:
Pauline Hallett of Ogwen Mountain Rescue said: “William used to fly us around when he lived and worked up here and I was telling him about the new helicopters.
“Catherine then said how much George loved helicopters. He knows all the different colours and asks her about all the parts.
She laughed and said she tells George to ask Daddy as she has no idea.”
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Now to what Kate wore, starting with her Reiss Angel Fit and Flare coat from the brand’s fall 2010 collection.
This garment was first noted at Christmas 2011, and again in October 2012 when Kate and William officially opened St. George’s Park. From an earlier post: “The knee length coat features wide, top-stitched lapels, front pockets, multiple gores, and a hidden front fastening. It is a blend, 80% wool and 20% polyamide.” The coat’s collar can be worn up, as Kate has styled it each time she has worn the coat, or down, as seen in the product image above.
The Angel originally sold for £325 (about $500), but Reiss has said Kate purchased it at their Bicester Village outlet store.
The Duchess did not wear a belt with the coat today or in 2011, but in 2012 she had on the Reiss ‘Betony’ belt, an item from the company’s s/s 2009 collection.
The Duchess wore her trusty Rhumba boots by Aquatalia.
The Rhumba is out of production and the company suggests the Raine ($650) as the Rhumba substitute. We think the Damara ($725) looks a bit more like the Rhumba, although it is more expensive than the Raine. Below we show you all three, all have been digitally lightened to better show the details.
If set on getting the Rhumba, Neiman’s Last Call has very limited sizing in charcoal and in brown, both colors are almost 50% off, selling at $398.
Kate also had on skinny jeans and a black turtleneck/polo neck.
Kate kept the jeans and top on when the couple changed for the afternoon’s abseiling exercise, but switched to a pair of hiking boots we saw during the 2012 Jubilee Tour. Some will have already recognized them as the Brasher Hillmaster GTX (which stands for Gore-Tex).
The boots are still available as the original Hillmaster GTX, although the version most readily available is the Hillmaster GTX II, that model is available at Amazon UK, priced from £90 – £140. Another look.
Mountain Rescue does have an online shop, offering a few clothing items, but not the jackets worn by William and Kate today. In a comment Alison suggests Kate could be wearing the Mountain Equipment Women’s Micron Jacket.
It’s a great find by Alison, but not the same. The pockets are different (Kate’s has no chest pocket), hers is two tones of red, the reflective detailing is missing and there are some other details that are different. It is also similar to the Lattice jacket style. I haven’t had time to look at other Mountain Equipment jackets but my early guess is that it’s a custom piece for Mountain Rescue and/or other ‘professional’ groups requiring additional reflective detailing and special details for those working in the field.
Most will recognize Kate’s earrings.
She was wearing her Kiki McDonough Citrine Drops.
One note: as soon as additional photos are available I will update the post. (NOTE: We updated Nov 21 1nd 22.) Until then, we leave you with this image of Kate.
And this ITV video
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LINKAGE:
- See a video on GISDA’s work here, the GISDA website is here, its Facebook page is here and Twitter feed here
- Visit the Mind website to learn more about the organization, or follow Mind here on Facebook, and here on Twitter
- the Ynys Môn Mind group serves the Anglsey and Gwynedd communities; its website is here & Twitter feed here; the Cymru Mind Twitter feed is here
- The Mountain Rescue England and Wales website is here, the organization’s Facebook page is here and
- The Towers Residential Outdoor Education Centre website is here
- Learn more about the Men’s Shed UK programs here & national Facebook page is here; the local CYMRU Shed program website is here, its Facebook page here and Twitter page here
- The Daily Mail’s coverage is here, Vctoria Murphy’s story in The Mirror is here (with video), Gordon Raynor’s story for The Telegraph is here, The Express story about the Mountain Rescue activities is here
- For a number of videos of Kate and William abseiling, visit Lauren Brown’s Twitter feed here
- Click here for ITV’s 1:20 video about the morning’s activities, This BBC link shows a 2o-second video of Kate and William arriving at Snowdonia
- Mind’s extensive coverage of the day’s visit may be read here
Jen K.
Monday 30th of November 2015
Love reading WKW, and love all the coats but have always wondered why she seldom removes her coat indoors. It looks odd to me that she's indoors in obviously warm outerwear and to me gives the impression that she's ready to leave as soon as arriving. I'm sure that's not the case but again, it seems odd not to remove one's coat.
K
Friday 27th of November 2015
She looks great and her and William both look very happy and relaxed. These photos make me smile.
Emily
Wednesday 25th of November 2015
The SMILES on Kate and William in almost every picture are my favorite fashion accessory here. Everyone looks lovely & relaxed.
Nicole
Monday 23rd of November 2015
Personally, I love the duchess' outfit-so much so that I feel compelled to comment on it. She looks so fresh and youthful but still elegant and composed. The Kiki McDonough drop earrings are my favorite, though the significant price tag precludes me from buying them. Anyone know of a quality but affordable alternative?
Brooke
Monday 23rd of November 2015
Not a huge fan of this coat, it just seems a bit blah. I think I would like it more the way it's shown (collar down), or the way Lilli suggested - in a funnel (though I think that would require some significant alterations, but I'm 29 and JUST learned how to sew on a button, so what do I know??). But totally appropriate for the occasion.
The picture of her flipping that ponytail - #hairgoals And - someone else said, NO bangs! YAY!
Susan is right - the candid shots of William/Kate in nature are my favorite ones!
Overall, a solid look for the task at hand.