Kate in Rich Green Coat & Hat for Christmas Day Church Service

The Duchess debuted a new coat and hat for Christmas Day church services.

It was a cool, rainy morning at Sandringham, where the royals are celebrating the holidays. (Kate and William are staying at Anmer Hall, their home on the Estate.) In this Twitter photo from Victoria Murphy, you can see Her Majesty’s festive red coat as she leaves St. Mary Magdalene church.

Victoria noted there was a “Heavy uniformed and plainclothes police presence at Sandringham today. … with metal detectors and dogs.” 

Here is a closer look at Kate’s ensemble this morning.

The Duchess was in a new coat by Sportmax, the label’s ‘Long Belted Coat’ in green virgin wool. It features multiple design elements she is fond of: oversized lapels, multiple gores, a fitted bodice with a full skirt, and an asymmetrical front closure. The piece was originally priced at $1895, but most recently sold at $1232; we show it at Farfetch, where it is sold out. Our thanks to Ashley for identifying the coat.Another look.

UPDATED DEC 27: There has been ample (and understandable) discussion in the comments here on WKW, as well as on Facebook and Twitter, about the fit of Kate’s coat. More specifically, the placement of the pocket flaps on her garment, much higher on the torso than those seen in product pictures from Farfetch. Many of us were confounded as to why there would be a difference, it certainly wouldn’t make sense for the Duchess to purchase the coat with the intent of having such a significant design element altered. We thought we might have at least a partial answer to the mystery, with thanks to Annabelle from the Facebook page, she pointed us to this version of the coat, offered at L’Inde Le Palais.

Below left the ‘Fedora Coat‘ as it is called at L’Inde Le Palais, an upscale Italian retailer; on the right you see the Farfetch version of the garment. More from the L’Inde Le Palais product description:

“Sportmax autumn/winter 2015 forest green wool cloth Fedora coat with wide revers and V neckline, ton sur ton stitches and two side pockets with a flap.”

Revers are lapels, and ton sur ton stitching refers to the tone on tone top-stitching seen throughout the garment. Here you can note a distinction between the two garments, there is no vent at the hem on the back of the coat at the left as there is with the style seen on the right. Kate is wearing the version shown on the right, that seen in the Farfetch product pictures, her coat has the opening at the lower back hem.

Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be a discernible difference in the pocket flap placement on the two garments, so we really aren’t any further along in determining why the pocket flaps sit differently on Kate.

Sportmax is part of the Max Mara family, considered an edgier, hipper label that is targeted to a trendier customer, often a more youthful shopper. One interesting tidbit about Sportmax: every piece the company makes under this label has a single Swarovski crystal hand-sewn somewhere on the garment; you can see that on the back collar of both coats shown above. 

We move now to the dress just slightly visible under Kate’s coat, the ‘Cezanne Pleated Dress’ from Great Plains, the more moderately priced arm of French Connection. The Duchess was first seen wearing the Cezanne for a series of engagements in Grimsby in May of  2013. On that occasion, she wore the Cezanne ‘winter pink’ color.

The dress also came in the color seen today, ‘pine needle,’ featuring green and blue and salmon hues, along with ‘destiny,’ a blend of midnight, rich russet and periwinkle.

A better look at the ‘pine needle’ version peeking out from under Kate’s coat; on the right, we show a broader photo from a recent eBay Ireland auction.

It’s not the first time Kate has purchased a garment she likes in multiple colors or varieties. A case in point: below she is seen wearing Amanda Wakeley’s Sculpted Felt Seamed Dress in ‘gunmetal gray’ when visiting the Imperial War Museum in April of 2012; originally she wore the frock in ‘oatmeal’ for a visit to Royal Marsden Hospital in September of 2011. (It is reported the Duchess also purchased the dress in black.)

Kate wore a new hat that has not yet been officially identified; both Remember Love Moments on Twitter and Anna of My Small Obsessions believe it’s a piece by Sylvia Fletcher for Lock Hatters. My guess is they are correct.

Her hair was worn up, this image offers a better look at how it was styled.

Many will recognize Kate’s other accessories, including her Mulberry Bayswater Clutch. Although we show it in black leather, the Duchess carries the clutch wallet in black suede.

We also saw Kate’s Aquatalia Rhumba boots again. A quick note for those looking to repliKate the boots at a bargain price: The Raine, suggested by Aquatalia as the substitute for the Rhumba, is on sale at Saks for more than 50% off its original price of $650, it is now discounted to $273 in both black and grey suede.

Nordstrom shows the Raine priced at $435, but it’s my understanding the retailer has been price-matching, it’s possible Nordstrom would honor the Saks price.

The good folks at Cornelia James have let me know it looks like Kate is wearing their Imogen gloves.

Kate wore her Kiki McDonough green amethyst earrings.

As well as a brooch first seen at the Diamond Jubilee Luncheon in 2012.

The item features acorns and oak leaves, elements in the Middleton family coat of arms.

The origins of the brooch, such as designer or retailer, are unknown.

Below, a look back at previous Christmas styles (from left to right): the aubergine coat by “an independent dressmaker” seen for Kate’s first Sandringham Christmas in 2011 (a design almost identical to the Alexander McQueen coat worn Easter Sunday 2014); the Hobbs Celeste worn in 2012 when attending services with her family; the very popular Blackwatch tartan coat by Alexander McQueen seen for 2013; and last year’s Moloh coat.

We also have a retrospective of Kate’s chapeaux 2011 Jane Corbett created the Duchess’s matching hat, a modified trilby with ruffled accents cascading on the back and the back and piped edges; in 2012 Kate did not wear a hat; for 2013’s services the Duchess wore a new style from Gina Foster, described by the milliner as being a hard shell beret with a large bow; last year Kate wore the very popular ‘Betty Boop’ from Lock and Company.

Please forgive the erratic photo sizes and other irregularities, I’m editing on a mobile device that is a bit challenging. We will update later today with more photos and information.

A primary focus of the day is watching the Queen’s annual speech airing at 3pm. Her Majesty wore a tweed dress by Angela Kelly in the video that was taped at Buckingham Palace. For much of the message two photographs are seen to the Queen’s left: one is of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, the other is one of Mario Testino’s pictures from Princess Charlotte’s christening. There is a third photograph, it shows HM with the Duke of Edinburgh, but it is out of frame for a good portion of the message. We leave you with the Queen’s Christmas Message.

For all who are celebrating the holiday, Merry Christmas!

LINKAGE:

• PopSugar’s oversized image gallery is here & The Telegraph’s gallery is here
• The Daily Mail’s photo-intense story is here,  The Mirror’s story is here, The Express story is here