NOTE: With apologies to those who may have already read the portion of this post with the Mental Health Week content, I thought we needed a second post separate from yesterday’s Air Cadets post. That post became very long and unwieldy once I added all the content about the video and the new photo of Kate. I am sorry for clogging up your electronic in-bin!
Kate’s video supporting 2016 Children’s Mental Health Week was released Sunday.
More from Richard Palmer’s story in The Express:
THE Duchess of Cambridge has urged Britain’s schools to do more to provide emotional support for children to give them the resilience to cope with life’s challenges.
The Duchess has been royal patron of the charity since 2013. From Kate’s comments in the video:
Every child deserves to be supported through difficult times in their lives.
Schools are uniquely placed to provide emotional support, working with children and their families – this is something that Place2Be understands.
Place2Be oversees Children’s Mental Health Week. Below, more information on this year’s focus:
The theme of Children’s Mental Health Week this year is ‘building resilience’ and teaching children to ‘bounce forward’ from life’s challenges.
While we cannot always change children’s circumstances, we can teach them the skills to cope with the difficulties life throws at them.
The Duchess interacts with four children from Salusbury Primary School in London, all are benefiting from Place2Be’s services at their school.
More from The Mirror:
Nimra says: “I find Place2Be a very good thing to be in the school because whenever I have an issue I just decide to go there and it makes me feel a lot better because I like speaking what I feel.”
The Daily Mail has more:
In the message, the Duchess says that both she and her husband Prince William, feel strongly that ‘every child deserves to be supported through difficult times in their lives.’
‘Every child deserves to grow up feeling confident that they won’t fall at the first hurdle, that they cope with life’s setbacks,’ she says.
‘Many of us are incredibly fortunate that the issues we face in childhood are ones we can cope with and learn from. But for some children, learning to cope with life’s challenges can be a struggle.
The video was produced by BAFTA’s in-house production team.
In the video children are wearing bracelets with the Place2Be logo on them.
One is also on the table and Kate is seen putting one on her wrist.
It turns out the wristbands seen in the video *are* available via the Place2Be website. Click this link and scroll down until you see this graphic.
The charity requests a £10 donation with a wristband. However, they are only available in the UK.
Many will remember the sought-after EACH (East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices) bracelets, they were wildly popular. Created by Imogen Sheeran, singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran’s mother, the bracelets are still available on the EACH site.
You can read more about Children’s Mental Health Week on the Place2Be website.
Here is the entire video, it runs about 3:30.
Many will recognize Kate’s ‘sparkle tweed’ separates from Rebecca Taylor. The ensemble was first seen in 2012 at an event honoring a charity expedition to the South Pole and again in New Zealand during the 2014 tour.

Nunn Syndication, Polaris/Splash News/-Images, Polaris/Stephen Lock, i-Images
A closer look at the pieces.
Tweed is something the brand is known for and sparkle tweed pieces continue to be part of Rebecca Taylor collections. Below (from left to right), a Stretch Tweed Jacket in creamsicle at 6pm.com ($295), a Ruffle Jacket at Rebecca Taylor in blue cream and creamsicle ($495), and a Sparkle Tweed Dress at Rebecca Taylor ($395). The blue isn’t quite the same as Kate’s, I think the color name, blue cream, might reference the amount of white, or cream, in the fabric; it appears lighter than Kate’s pieces.
One more look at the Duchess with Nimra, Ryan, Bailey-Rae, and Connor.
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Our other topic today: the new coat Kate is seen wearing as she is about to board a chopper after her Air Cadets engagements. The coat can be seen in a photo posted on Instagram by RainbowCeline.
Here is a full-length view of the coat in this Instagram photo by @It_Is_Rosalie
Many thanks to Christin (aka @PackhamGown on Twitter) for sharing the image. Kate is wearing the Paddington coat from a label she loves for coats, Mulberry. The coat is a single breasted style in a wool blend that has a bit of mohair; it also features besom pockets, 2 Mulberry horn buttons and contrast wool melton trim under the collar.
The Paddington is from Mulberry’s pre-fall 2015 collection; Kate wore the powder blue colorway. Our thanks to Ashley Marie for discovering the coat.
The garment also came in honey, an off-white color.
I believe the original price was $1590, with the garment most recently selling for $790 in the USA.
Mulberry has a style much like the Paddington this year, the Riva. You can see how similar the tailoring is in the two garments, although Riva’s fabric doesn’t have the texture, the mohair look, that the Paddington has.
In the photo Kate is carrying her Explorer Holdall by Tusting. This photo dates to 2007, so the Duchess has had her bag almost 10 years. Kate is wearing a Zara blazer, cable knit sweater and jeans that I believe some thought were a Levi’s style. (That’s tapping brain cells for long ago data that I may well have wrong.)
Tusting is a longtime maker of heritage leather goods in the UK. The bags are crafted of heavy sailcloth, with antiqued brass fittings, detachable shoulder straps; they are fully lined. Below, the Explorer Holdalls in the different sizes available.

Tusting
The bags are also offered in tan canvas and claret canvas. Tusting delivers around the world, if in the USA the cost is £40.
LINKAGE:
- Click here if you would like more information about Children’s Mental Health Week, click on this link to see how to get involved in Children’s Mental Health Week activities
- Place2Be’s website is here, its Facebook page here and Twitter feed is here, if you are interested in making a donation click here
- If you are in the USA and would like info on the Caring for Every Child’s Mental Health campaign, click here; for info on National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day click here
- For an extensive Huffington Post UK article about children’s mental health, Place2Be and Kate’s involvement, click here
Gwen Palmer
Tuesday 16th of February 2016
Since fashion is all about detail, I won't feel bad about suggesting that, possibly, the Duchess has the Tusting bag in more than one size(?) and that the photos show two different sizes. I'm judging by the length of the side seam on the bags: in the 2007 photo, the seam is almost exactly the same length as Kate's shin, while in the Instagram photo, the bag's side seam looks clearly shorter than Kate's shin is from knee to ankle. It's possible that she carries the large bag in the 2007 photo and maybe the medium in the 2016. Buying bags in a matched set is certainly very normal! I confess to a love of both handbags and luggage, which is probably why I'm checking them out this thoroughly!
Carol
Tuesday 16th of February 2016
I think the reason for Kate's poor posture is her very high heals. Watch people who wear them, they all lean forward.
Maggie
Sunday 14th of February 2016
Just noticed this morning there is a full length photo of Kate in the Mulberry coat. I am not sure if it is one that could be used on this site, but she is wearing a dark dress and her dark knee length flat boots. Boots could be Stuart Weitzman.
(Unfortunately the photo is accompanied by a terrible article)
admin
Monday 15th of February 2016
Thanks so much for the update Maggie,is it an Instagram image?
Maryl
Sunday 14th of February 2016
The Duchess is certainly growing into her role; she looks happy, confident and relaxed. Both she and the children did an excellent job in the video. As for her wardrobe choices, I love the McQueen--the military details and the air force blue are perfect. I even like the flap detail; Kate has the slim-hipped figure to pull it off. The RT suit is charming, although I can see that it doesn't fit quite as well as it could. That being said, I think it was appropriate for the occasion and, again, the colour was a nod to the school sweaters of the children and the bracelets. When my daughter was about the age of the children in the video, she would have highly approved of the sparkly fabric and flower trim for a modern princess. The blue mohair-blend coat is simply gorgeous--I used to have an ivory jacket in a similar fabric, a cherished gift but sadly long gone now. If I'm not mistaken, I think HM has worn more than a few mohair coats over the years, a classic look.
Gwen Palmer
Friday 12th of February 2016
I do like the Rebecca Taylor suit, though I agree the jacket is too short. But the color is wonderful on the Duchess and I confess to liking the embellishments for their youthful, and kind of cheerful, look - that makes the suit nice for a children's event.
While I know the Duchess has advisors, I am still impressed by the details like that, which make her choices so nicely tailored to the occasion, yet subtly so. I wasn't fond of the blue suit she wore for honoring the RAF cadets - thought the style was drab and the pocket flaps awful - but the color was both appropriate and cheery, and the style perfect for the occasion. Both outfits also show how much hers (and the Queen's) is a true "working" wardrobe, down to an extroardinary level of detail. In my workplace days, I could barely match my belt to my shoes!
L. L. Bean has a somewhat similar canvas tote bag, though it does not really qualify as a repli-Kate, in detail or shade (it's more a saddle light brown). And it's currently backordered, but does come in at only $99 US dollars! I'm having connection problems today, but it's easy to find at llbean.com, under "duffles."