Today the Queen hosted her annual pre-Christmas luncheon at Buckingham Palace.
Above you see Nanny Maria Borrallo accompanying Kate, William, George and Charlotte as they leave Kensington Palace on their way to Buckingham Palace.
A closer view of the Duchess.
More from The Daily Mail:
The annual celebration is a royal tradition and allows the monarch to catch up with more distant relations, who are not invited to join her at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk on the 25th.
Attending today are immediate members of the royal family including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as well as the lesser known royals.
Another view here.
Embed from Getty Images
Kate and Prince George. 
More from Erin Hill’s People story:
They joined more than 50 royal family members for lunch at the palace — including Prince Charles, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Princess Eugenie (who was one of the first to arrive), Princess Beatrice and Zara and Mike Tindall.
The children looked darling.
Prince William and Charlotte.
Here is a good shot.
Embed from Getty Images
The Palace is decorated for the season and looks just beautiful.
That is a 15-foot Nordmann Fir you see in the Marble Hall above; it comes from Windsor Great Park.
Now to what Kate wore today.
It very much looks like she was in another Zara piece, the brand’s Long Cloth Cape.
The piece is done in a wool/poly blend, with a viscose lining. It features a round neckline, back pleat and side vents; it is $149. Many thanks to LadyParky on Twitter, as well as Royal RepliMeghan on Instagram for their ID skills on the cape, along with Food, Fash, Fit.
In some of the photos, you can see that Kate has added a faux fur collar to the look.
Kate M Cambridge suggested on Twitter that it is a piece from Jigsaw, the retailer’s ‘Faux Fur Tippet,’ a piece that is no longer available. Jigsaw is the store where Kate once worked as a buyer.
Middleton Maven shared that Kate could have been wearing the collar at last year’s luncheon, paired with her Oscar de la Renta suit.
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I received quite a few messages/emails suggesting Kate may have been wearing her Goat Eloise tunic dress today. Looking at the dress color we can see in this photo, I think it could well be the case.
Kate first wore the Eloise in November at a Place 2 Be. function.
BTW, the dress is back in stock sizes 2 and 14.
Many recognized the earrings, a pair Kate has had since at least 2007 or 2008. Below you see the Duchess wearing them to the Queen’s Christmas luncheon in 2014.
When writing about them in 2014 I described the earrings as “evocative of Christmas trees,” and I still think that.
Here you see Kate arriving for the luncheon over the years, with the exception of last year. For the life of me, I can’t remember why there were almost no photos, but it was a challenge even getting the post together last year. 
We will see you Christmas Day, if not sooner!
Linkage:
- The Daily Mirror’s story is here; The Telegraph’s gallery is here; The Express story is here
- People’s story is here; the Hello! story is here; Just Jared’s coverage is here; the Fug Girls piece is here
- Popsugar’s gallery focused on Kate pictures may be seen here; its 4-photo gallery with the children is here;
Wow, great job to everyone who managed to ID that cape! I think it’s a solid choice for the evening, especially with the pop of colour from the Goat dress underneath. Capes look terrible on me so I won’t be fighting to get my hands on this piece, but I do have a black winter coat from Zara made of similar material. I was just wearing it today and admiring once again how well-cut it is and how great the wool blend looks for such an affordable piece (well, except for the hole I made in the polyester pocket 😉 ).
Have to agree with the comments about Charlotte, she looks so different every time we see her! Her eyes have really opened up, I think she now sort of resembles Kate when she was younger. George still looks like Michael Middleton, I find, though maybe not as much as he used to!
Kate looks beautiful- well rested, happy with perfect makeup and hair. I don’t like tie on faux collars on a coat- she should have a collar made on to the cape- one she can take off or leave on. The tie on style slips and slides around and just seems so ‘let’s play dress up’.
It’s hard work this week having to make out faces in shots taken through car windows, I feel too much like a snooper and it makes comments on outfits near-redundant. Kate seems to be dressing for comfort at this stage and I’m just glad to see her out and enjoying herself and looking so well. Her hair in particular looks fabulous.
Otherwise she’s picked on three pet dislikes of mine, capes, fur collars and droopy boho earrings which means it’s time I piped down. It’s lovely to see the whole family plus nanny and to see how baby faces are maturing – and to admire William’s stern concentration on the driving while ferrying a car-load round town.
Eliza Mo, I love your thoughtful comments and that you’d rather say nothing (or at least very careful) if there is nothing good to say.
Also you seem to always find something good to comment about.
Thank you for this commendable comment-behaviour!
Until now I’ve always thought that Charlotte looks like HM and only a bit like her brother. Suddenly today she’s a version of George and the image of auntie Pippa. So grown up and not looking like a baby anymore.
Love the cape and collar. If that’s the Eloise underneath I’m thrilled because I loved it when she wore it earlier this month.
What a lovely family
I agree! I think Charlotte is HM’s mini-me.
I am always so impressed how people are able to identify clothing items when you can only see such a small sliver of the outfit.
Me too! I can barely see a blob of black. So impressed by all the fashion mavens who can tell these things!
I cannot figure it out either……but love that cape and faux fur collar too. I will be very happy to see the walking to church photos of george and charlotte!
Kate looks gorgeous and so appropriate! She has done it again. I love the cape, and love that she’s wearing Jigsaw– isn’t that the company she worked for some time ago? They’ve got to be thrilled. George and Charlotte look adorable, and Charlotte looks so much like the Queen it’s uncanny.
These photos, where we only see the Royals inside a car, are frustrating, because it is impossible to know how the entire outfit looks. A black cape is a great idea when pregnant. I made one in a camel colour and wore it during my three pregnancies. They are not great when driving, but Kate likely doesn’t get to drive much anyway. I would have eliminated the faux fur collar. Kate will be comfortable and warm in the Goat dress. Wonder if she is wearing black tights again?
The kids look adorable. I’m sure everyone had a great time.
I wondered if the tippet was a substitute for wearing a scarf on the grounds that it offers rather less for small fingers to get hold off and unravel.
I don’t think those earrings were the best choice. Too long for the fur collar, they look like they’d get bunched up and caught in it. And too ornate to pair with the plain, bold buttons on the dress.
Tiffany-esque silver ball stud/drop earrings would’ve been pretty.
Love seeing everyone together as a family! I love a good cape, so I’m on board for this! I tried to purchase it, but it appears it doesn’t come in plus sizes, so no cape for me!
Can’t wait to see the Christmas “Walking to Church” photos! I wonder if we’ll see George and Charlotte this year!
Cheers to all the “lesser known royals.” Great post, as usual, WKW.
William looks more lke Freddie Windsor with each passing year. Both children look adorable heading to “granny’s” for lunch. Wonder if there’s a kiddy table?
I wondered the same and presume there must be….? Can’t see the tiny ones like Charlotte at the “big table,” do you think?
Yes there is! The adults sit with the Queen and the kids have their own table. I think in a different room, too. That is why every family, if you note, brings a nanny!
A cape! A cape! I just love Kate in a cape! Wish we had a full body photo! Looks like a great outfit. I loved that dress the first time she wore it last month.
Little Charlotte in the backseat is just adorable. This is the first photo of her where I think “child” instead of “baby.” She’s growing up! So cute.
She even has a Christmas book to read in the car. This little one is more than ready for nursery!
A tippet! A cape and a tippet for a Christmas luncheon with the Queen! Very Victorian. I love it.
The petite prince and princess looked nicely turned out, too–I’m headed over to WKKW to read up! 🙂
Clever of you to remember the cape and tippet combination, I’d clean forgotten that one, it makes more sense of an outfit where I think Kate is dressing more for comfort than overall appearance.
I think you might not have good pica from last year because she was sitting in the back with the kids. Harry was sitting in the front seat.
That’s a good point, I didn’t think about that! 🙂
I think that this look wasn’t the best as I don’t think the collar worked with the cape. However I suppose she will takeoff her cape and collar once inside?
WHO knows…
She’s well known for keeping her coat on inside 🙂
What a lovely treat! Thanks for the update, Susan. The Cambridges look absolutely scrumptious. Kate is glowing and so natural. And Princess Charlotte, bless her, is a chameleon. Her looks change every time we see her. She looks a lot more like George now and eerily like a young Princess Eugenie.
The dress sizes are 6 and 18. We dont have a size 2 here. 6 is the smallest and thats for someone who is a stick
The sizes I am referencing are those shown on Goat’s US site. http://www.goatfashion.com/us/eloise-dress-plum
Ok, its just your link above. The price is in pounds and the sizes are 6 and 18. The link in the comments is for the US