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Kate’s Calendar Filling Up & That Jewelry Poll (Updated!)

We are back with several engagements added to Kate’s Calendar, as well as that much-dicussed jewelry poll.

We begin with the new engagements:

  • Friday March 11: Kate and William pay another visit to XL Mentoring in South London; their first engagement with the charity was last March. The organization works with vulnerable young people ages 11-18, and also offers a nationally recognized training program that is a “…resource for churches, youth workers and leaders.” The couple will meet with mentors and mentees, as well as mentoring coordinators from around the country. You can also read more about last March’s engagement here on the XLP website.
  • Thursday, March 10: The Duke and Duchess will have a series of “…public and private engagements focusing on efforts to prevent suicide and to support those bereaved by suicide.” This is an element of the couple’s mental health initiative Prince William was said to have been planning for some time. On the 10th they will meet Jonny Benjamin, a young man contemplating suicide in 2008, and Neil Laybourn, the man Mr. Benjamin credits with saving his life. At Kensington Palace Kate and William will watch a documentary with both men about a mental health campaign Mr. Benjamin founded called Think Well.  More from Majesty magazine

They will then travel to Kensington Palace where they will drop in on a screening of a documentary about Jonny’s experience… Jonny regularly attends screenings with young people as a way to encourage open discussion of mental health issues.

Around 20 young people from a South London school will be invited to watch the screening at Kensington Palace and then take part in a discussion, led by Jonny, Neil and Rethink Mental Illness. The children taking part in the session are from a school where Jonny has previously delivered his ThinkWell project.

  •  Monday, March 14: Kate & William join HM, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Harry and other royals at the annual Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey. The theme for this year’s observances is An Inclusive Commonwealth.  Below you see the Duchess at last year’s Commonwealth Day services, not long before Princess Charlotte was born. (Our post on last year’s service is here.)
    • A quick PSA about the timing of this event: it begins at 3:15pm local time. That translates to 11:15am EDT/8:15am PDT. We switch to Daylight Savings Time March 13th but the UK doesn’t switch until the 27th, meaning this event falls in that window when we are just 4 hours behind London.

PA Wire/i-Images

NOTE: The original poll in this post has been deleted and a new poll inserted as of 4pm Saturday, March 5. I apologize for any confusion, but in the original post and poll I neglected to include the Mappin & Webb earrings. There was also a mistake in how I referred to the blue topaz earrings in the poll. If you voted in the original poll and wouldn’t mind voting again that would be terrific. (I almost feel like I should be in Chicago exhorting people to “Vote early, vote often.”) Thank you for your patience with my errors in the original post and poll.

Now to our jewelry poll. 2015 was a banner year for all things shiny and shimmering as the Duchess debuted quite a few new pieces from contemporary designers , as well as several from the Queen’s private collection of royal jewels. We  have broken this into two polls, one for the “new new” items, and one for the “new old” pieces that are from the royal jewelry box.

In January Kate was in a new pair of earrings at a Fostering Network event. She wore the Lolita style earrings by Mirabelle Jewelry shown below left. In March at the Commonwealth Day service mentioned above Kate also wore new earrings, Kiki McDonough’s Pink Morganite Cushion Drops.

i-Images/Mirabelle/Kiki McDonough/Allpix

i-Images/Mirabelle/Kiki McDonough/Allpix

At another March church service, this one honoring those who served in Afghanistan, Kate wore a pair of glittering tanzanite and diamond earrings with a matching pendant. The pear-shaped faceted stones are surrounded by diamonds, with the pendant showcasing a 6.3 carat tanzanite and .87 carat of diamonds; all of this is set in platinum. It turned out the pendant was from royal warrant holder G. Collins and Sons (click here to see the pendant at G. Collins), we think the earrings must also be from this jeweler.

Polaris/

i-Images/Nunn-Polaris/Polaris/i-Images

In July the newest member of the Cambridge family was christened, and the Duchess wore a new pair of earrings for that occasion. Kate chose the Mappin & Webb Empress earrings, they match the Empress pendant we have previously seen.

2015 Jewelry Poll Kate Mappin Webb Empress Earrings July 5 2015 Charlotte Christening Montage March 4 2016

©Splash News/Nunn Syndication, Polaris

For World Mental Health Day last October the Duchess brought back the Paulina dress by Tory Burch, accessorizing with a new pair of earrings from Kiki McDonough, the Lauren Pa Diamond earrings in 18K yellow gold.  

Nunn Syndication-Polaris/Kiki McDonough/Splash News

Nunn Syndication-Polaris/Kiki McDonough/Splash News

When attending a Rugby World Cup match in September Kate sported a new pair of earrings by an artisan/designer she has worn before, Catherine Zoraida. The Duchess wore the Fern Hoop earrings in gold over silver. 

James Whatling, Splash News/Catherine Zoraida/James Whatling, Splash News

James Whatling, Splash News/Catherine Zoraida/James Whatling, Splash News

October was the month we almost overdosed on exquisite jewelry, starting with the China state dinner October 20th.

mm

First, the Lotus Flower tiara, also known as the Papyrus tiara. This was the second time the Duchess has worn the tiara, it was previously seen at the Queen’s diplomatic reception in 2013.

/Royal Order Splendor/Polaris

/Royal Order Splendor/Polaris

A closer look at the two bracelets worn by the Duchess, beginning with the Wedding Gift Bracelet worn on her left hand.

©

©PA Wire/Nunn Syndication-Polaris

The second bracelet is believed to have originally been a necklace worn by Queen Mary that was converted to a bracelet. (More here at Her Majesty’s Jewel Vault.)

©PA Wire/Splash News

©PA Wire/Splash News

One quick note about Kate’s jewelry at her first state dinner: all of it was loaned to her by HM, from the earrings to the bracelets to the tiara.

The Duchess dazzled again last October at the premiere of the latest James Bond film. She wore a bespoke Jenny Packham evening gown and a pair of Robinson Pelham Pagoda style earrings set with blue topaz and diamonds. These are also family pieces, worn by Carole Middleton to Kate and William’s evening wedding reception at Buckingham Palace.  

Nunn Syndciation, Polaris/Robinson Pelham/Nunn Syndication, Polaris

Nunn Syndication, Polaris/Robinson Pelham/Nunn Syndication, Polaris

The very next evening Kate was radiant at the 100 Women in Hedge Funds Dinner, in a pair of sapphire and diamond earrings first worn by the Queen Mother. As described by Her Majesty’s Jewel Chest, the earrings “…include sapphires surrounded by diamonds with a fringe of diamonds and small sapphires suspended below.”

Splash News/

Splash News/Splash News/Polaris/Splash News/Nunn Syndication, Polaris

In December the Duke and Duchess once again attended the annual diplomatic reception at Buckingham Palace (our post is here). For this function Kate wore the iconic Lover’s Knot tiara and diamond chandelier earrings we have seen several times.

Tim Rooke-Rex USA/

©Tim Rooke-Rex USA/PA Wire

Our first poll looks at the contemporary new styles worn by Kate in 2015.

And our second poll requests your vote on the private collection, loaned pieces worn by the Duchess in 2015.

There are 2 very quick retail notes to share:

  1. Madderson London, one of our fab sponsors, is offering 10% off sitewide through midnight Sunday night (7pm ET) with promo code MUMLOVE10
  2. The Outnet has a great selection of styles by Goat, with all at least 50% off. Additionally, the Goat US website is officially up and running.

We’ll see you early next week!

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Nancy

Wednesday 9th of March 2016

I haven't been to the blog in several days and was so glad to see the jewelry poll! I hope we get the opportunity to see a better picture of Kate in the Lover's Knot. I can't say if I like it on her until I can really see it full on. I don't care for the Lotus at all, so I'm glad she's been given another option, though I was surprised.

Anne

Sunday 6th of March 2016

I think the pagoda-style earrings have an exquisite look, especially with the blue Jenny Packham dress. My second choice would have been the dainty Kiki McDonough pink morganite earrings, which are perfectly pink. Both sets of earrings look lovely on Kate.

Gwen Palmer

Saturday 5th of March 2016

I knew the Lolita earrings would come in way down on the poll, but as plain as they are, I'm a sucker for graduated circles.

The wedding gift bracelet is not only beautiful, and a deco look I love, but the Queen loaning it to the Duchess seemed to me like a real gesture of strong affection, so that one gets my vote, however much I love the tiaras (tiarae?)

And thank you, yet again, for accentuating the positive as you do every time. The Cambridges are doing some important works.

Michelle

Sunday 6th of March 2016

I voted for the Lolita earrings in the original poll, but switched to the Mappin and Webb earrings in the updated poll. I am really not a fan of any of the other choices in the new jewelry poll; although they are expensive and probably well crafted, they seem very dated and blah. I also chose the Wedding Gift bracelet, so we have similar tastes!

Candice

Sunday 6th of March 2016

I like the Lolita earrings too,though they are not my favorite.

KateFan

Saturday 5th of March 2016

Great post...again! I'm not entirely sure but I think there's an error in your poll...the blue topaz earrings are by Robinson Pelham, as stated in the article, not Kiki McDonough as listed in the poll. I wanted to vote for them (love anything blue topaz!) and had to return to the poll to see if I'd missed something or was voting for the right jewellery piece.

Great to see some new engagements too. A busy time coming up!

admin

Saturday 5th of March 2016

Thank you for letting me know! We have a completely new poll, in addition to erroneously referring to the topaz earrings, I completely left out the Mapipn & Webb Empress earrings, argghh!

Lili

Saturday 5th of March 2016

I wasn't knocked out by any of the new jewelry and picked the Collins tanzanite earrings simply because I disliked them least. In general I enjoyed that look, and the tanzanite earrings and pendant went well with it, but I wasn't greatly excited by them. Their design struck me as rather staid and ordinary.

The Papyrus tiara was an easy choice among the heirloom pieces. I've always liked it and had, as I think I've said, thought the Duchess might wear it for her wedding. It's simultaneously elegant and modest, whereas I find the Lovers' Knot tiara rather heavy and slightly overdone.

I'm not a great fan of glitzy chandelier earrings, but I liked the Queen Mother's sapphire and diamond earrings rather better than the dress with which the Duchess wore them. They did complement the dress well, I'll say that for them.

It's nice to see we've got some soon-upcoming engagements to look forward to. The Duchess may be exercising restraint in terms of showing off new clothes at the moment, given that she'll probably be wearing a number of new items next month, in India and Bhutan, but I hope we'll see something new and interesting in the next several days.

ElizaMo

Saturday 5th of March 2016

The ones I ‘disliked least’ certainly sums up my own predicament in choosing for the first poll. Another way of describing the pink McDonoughs I picked out might be ‘completely washed out.’ Possibly I favoured their relative invisibility.

I really liked the colour of the tanzanite too, it looks really well on Kate. I dropped that set from my own front-runners on the grounds the shape was too much like another heart, too sentimental for my steely old soul.

I suppose glitzy items must come with the royal territory, some of Kate’s items need to be more dramatic for a public stage. I thought she managed to temper the heaviness of the Cambridge tiara by setting it fairly well down in her hair. I must admit that looking at the Papyrus tiara again here I find it is beginning to grow on me having seemed a bit indifferent before. I could understand it becoming a favourite in terms of function and weight.

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