Kate In Familiar Styles for Her Day on the Farm

For today’s Farms for City Children visit the Duchess opted for casual pieces many will recognize.

Farms for City Children offers an intense, hands-on experience giving urban children the “opportunity to live and work together for a week at a time on a real farm in the heart of the countryside.”  A bit of background on Kate’s visit to the farm via Rebecca English’s Daily Mail story:

According to a spokesman for the charity, whose patron is Princess Anne, Kate read about its work in Country Life and approached them to see if she could come down to one of its farms.

Rebecca English shared this video shortly after Kate’s arrival.

Video:Duchess of Cambridge at Wick Court @farmersforaweek pic.twitter.com/mLALjYOki2

— Rebecca English (@RE_DailyMail) May 3, 2017

The program is offered at three different sites; today’s event was at Wick Court in Gloucestershire. The charity farms 60 acres here.  

Erin Hill has more in her People magazine story:

Upon Kate’s arrival, she met with children’s author Michael Morpurgo and his wife Clare, who founded the organization in 1976.

She then joined a story time session led by Morpurgo before joining the children as they completed work around the farm, including tending to pigs, sheep and chickens.

One part of the organization’s mission calls for the promotion of literacy and storytelling.

More on today’s tasks at the farm from The Daily Mirror:

She joined children as they completed work around the farm yard, worked in the allotments and tended to pigs, sheep and chicken at Wick Court in Gloucestershire.

From Hello!‘s coverage:

She also helped plant onions in the vegetable patch and asked the children if they liked onions. When one child said they made their eyes water, Kate replied: “They make things nice and tasty. You can put onions in curries.”

Back to that Hello! story:

Another farming task saw Kate try her hand at pig-weighing, which involves corralling a pig into a pen to be weighed. “The Duchess had a pig board and was brilliant with it,” said Mr Goodman. “She said she had never done pig weighing before. The expression is ‘stubborn as a mule’ and pigs can be just as bad. We made sure we had three really quiet ones.”

From Richard Palmer’s Express story:

She and Prince William, who set up home at Anmer Hall in Norfolk because they wanted to experience the same lifestyle as their farming friends, have turned part of the grounds of the 10-bedroom Georgian mansion into a tiny hobby farm, it emerged.

Kate, who has previously confessed that she would like to have a go at farming, described her menagerie of animals at home at Anmer on the Queen’s 20,000 acre Sandringham estate.

Kate feeding Stinky the lamb.

It turns out Kate has a fondness for chickens; the details from that Express story.

The Duchess told stockman Dave Evansoneya, 50, who has worked at Wick Court for eight years, that she has a huge passion for chickens.

“She also told me and the children that she has an incubator of eggs at home at the moment with a hope that they are going to hatch into chicks. Her children are very excited.”

“She says it takes 21 days but George and Charlotte are so excited that they come down each morning and peer inside to see if anything has happened.”

The charity is seeking donations for equipment and supplies, including wheelbarrows, plates, and bowls for meals, along with other items. And Farms for City Children has an online gift shop. It offers some of Mr. Morpurgo’s books (including War Horse), as well as items directly related to Farms for City Children, like magnets, mugs, tea towels, and more.

Speaking of War Horse, some may recall William and Kate attending the premiere of that film in 2012. Mr. Morpurgo was also there, and I would think Mrs. Morpurgo might also have attended. It’s possible Kate met the founders of the Farms for City Children well before today.   

Now to what Kate wore for her trip to Wick Court.

The jacket is the Troy London Wax Parka (£350, about $450 at today’s exchange rates) first seen in Canada last September.  It is 100% cotton, treated with a wax finish (much like Barbour and other outerwear), with multiple pockets, a high collar, and cinched waist.

Beneath the jacket, it looked like the Duchess wore a navy sweater we’d not seen before. With thanks to Ryan S and Holly on the WKW FB page, it appears it might be the J Crew Italian Cashmere Long Sleeve Tee. The piece is available in Heather Navy; it is shown at full price ($198). (Many other colors are on sale for prices ranging from $99 to $149.99; if interested, be sure to use promo code SHOPNOW on these colors for an additional 30% off the price.)

The Gap checked shirt was first seen in 2014 when Kate and William visited a New Zealand winery. It is 100% cotton and originally retailed at $49. Kate’s precise style is no longer available, but the retailer still offers the Fitted Boyfriend style.

Kate also wore her Zara Biker jeans first seen at Kaziranga National Park in India (second photo from left) last April.

We have several repliKates for the jeans over on our RepliKate Clothing page.

We saw the return of one of Kate’s favorite footwear styles, her Penelope Chilvers Long Tassel Boots in the ‘conker’ colorway. The boots are available at Penelope Chilvers (£475, about $625); they are also carried at Moda Operandi ($750) in both burgundy and black. Thanks to Middleton Maven for the tip on Moda Operandi also carrying the boots. (I don’t know if the burgundy is exactly the same color as Kate’s conker, it looks quite similar in the online pix, but we know that can be a little deceptive.) Shipping to the US from Penelope Chilvers is £25; standard shipping to the US from Moda Operandi is free. If helpful, the image on the left is from Penelope Chilvers; the photo on the right is via Moda Operandi.

The Duchess wore her Kiki McDonough Lauren Leaf Pavé Diamond Earrings.

It looked like Kate had on her Cartier Ballon Bleu watch.

The Duchess wore her hair partially pulled back.

We will see you next week!

NOTE: The post originally ended with “see you Friday for the visit to Luxembourg,” which is wholly inaccurate. That engagement isn’t until Thursday the 11th. (Palm smack to forehead.)

LINKAGE:

• Learn more about the Farms for City Children project at the organization’s website here; visit the charity’s Facebook page here; follow the group on Twitter here
• Read about author and Farms for City Children founder Michael Morpurgo by clicking here; the Gloucestershire Live story is here
• The Daily Mail’s coverage is here; The Daily Express story is here; The Daily Mirror’s story is here;
• The Fug Girls column is here; People’s story is here; the Hello! the article is here; Pop Sugar’s oversize photos are here;