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Kate Brings Back Tory Burch Bettina for Anna Freud Centre Conference

We are back with a couple of quick updates, beginning with news about Kate’s attendance at a conference yesterday.

The Duchess spent a good part of her day at the Head Start Learning Conference. The event was put on by the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families in partnership with HeadStart and the Big Lottery Fund. The Fund is the organization that oversees distribution and use of more than £600 million in lottery proceeds to non-profit and community endeavors. The conference was the official launch of the HeadStart program. More from The Express article:

Called HeadStart, the five-year initiative has been funded by the National Lottery to tackle psychological problems faced by 10 to 16-year-olds by exploring and testing ways to build their resilience from an early age.

Kate is the Anna Freud Centre’s royal patron; the charity released the photos on Twitter of the Duchess at the Conference. The charity tweeted: “We are delighted to welcome our Patron HRH the Duchess of Cambridge to the HeadStartLearning Conference. HRH is a committed champion of children’s mental health and wellbeing and it is fantastic to have her here!”

Kensington Palace noted that “During the conference, HRH heard key note speakers from the field of resilience research and met with young people and staff leading the ground-breaking HeadStart programme which focuses on building mental health and resilience in children and young people across the country.”

Kate wore a piece many readers recognized, the Bettina coat by Tory Burch.

We first saw Kate wearing the piece in December 2014 when she visited New York with Prince William (our original post is here).

This allows a closer look at the fabric, a grey bouclé with some metallic yarns included in the weave. You can also see the “belted collar” on the coat.

Kate wore the coat at a Brooklyn Nets NBA game that was also the kickoff of a United for Wildlife campaign. The Duke and Duchess are seen with Dikembe Mutombo, an ambassador for wildlife initiative.

This was a popular piece when Kate first wore the coat, it is nice to see it again. You can just see in the second photo that Kate is wearing her Mappin and Webb ‘Empress’ earrings. (The photo below left is from another engagement, not the Freud Centre conference.)

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Our other news involves word of a joint engagement Kate will be doing with Sophie, the Countess of Wessex.

 

Our thanks to Lauryn for her comment linking to a tweet by HRH Duchess Kate with news of the February 19th event. The function recognizes the Commonwealth Fashion Exchange, a project aimed at developing and supporting those who work in the fashion industry in Commonwealth countries.  It is to be held at Buckingham Palace; it will be a treat to see Sophie and Kate cohosting an event.

Our final tidbit involves updates to Kate’s Calendar. There are two engagements that have been added for next Wednesday, the 17th.

  • Kate will visit Bond Primary School to see the Wimbledon Junior Tennis Initiative in action. The Initiative offers “…children the opportunity to experience tennis, as well as showing how participation in sport can develop the life skills and values which tennis encourages, such as teamwork, discipline and fairness.” Kate will join some of the children in tennis-related sessions; she will also hear about the impact of the WJTI from teachers and children.
  • The Duchess will also visit Great Ormond Street Hospital to officially open the Mittal Children’s Medical Centre, part of the Hospital’s ongoing redevelopment. Kate will join patients and families to hear their feedback on the new facilities, and also hear from staff. She will then meet key supporters and donors before opening the new Children’s Medical Centre.

A reminder that Sunday night the Smithsonian Channel airs The Coronation special documentary at 8 pm ET in the US. Here is a snippet from the BBC production.

Don’t forget to vote in the following polls, they will all be closed to voting this Sunday night (the 14th) at midnight!

 

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Pat

Tuesday 16th of January 2018

This is a great look. The shoes are an excellent choice for an outdoor engagement: sensible but fashionable. Her hair is still at an unfortunate length. Kate has beautiful hair, but she needs to style her hair differently if she wants to stick with the length—a great texturized lob with subtle highlights comes to mind. She could then focus on better accessories, a department in which she is often lacking. If she wants to grow it out, the ponytail look was great with this beautiful coat and made for a cleaner look: no bunching up at the collar which has become an unfortunate hallmark as of late. Overall, I think Kate is still polishing her look. I think her style is basically great and works for her, but she needs some professional help there. Princess Charlene, like Kate, likes solid colors and dresses conservatively, but she is far more polished. I’ve seen recent pics and she looks fabulous: it’s her but there is professional input. I would like to see Kate take her English look to this level of professionalism. I think she would be happy with the results and perhaps be a bit less reserved in public. A beautiful woman with good “sartorial” instincts and a feel for British fashion, the Duchess is like a diamond that needs polish; the potential is great but she still needs work.

Cindy G

Saturday 13th of January 2018

Maybe I'm missing something, is there a better photo of what Kate is wearing? All I can see is the top of her coat from the back. Does she have on a dress, leggings, what? If anyone can clarify I'd appreciate it.

Ashly

Saturday 13th of January 2018

These were the best photos she could get from this event. Unfortunately the photogs at the event didn’t take photos of her full outfit. How dare they do this to us ?.

admin

Saturday 13th of January 2018

There are a few more photos at HRH Duchess Kate: http://hrhduchesskate.blogspot.com/2018/01/duchess-kate-makes-surprise-appearance.html

Ashly

Saturday 13th of January 2018

I’m so excited to see that she’s wearing the Aquatalia booties in black. I’ve never seen her wear the ones in black, just brown. I own the black ones and they are super comfy.

Great post Susan!!!!!!!!

admin

Saturday 13th of January 2018

Thanks, Ashly! :)

Bonnie

Saturday 13th of January 2018

I like this coat/jacket and find the collar to be most interesting. When Kate wore this to the basketball game in NYC, I remember thinking she looked overdressed. With the silver metallic in the weave and with high heeled shoes, it was just too fancy for a sporting event.

For this recent engagement she looked just fine.

katefanatic

Saturday 13th of January 2018

I Agree. It did seem dressy for a basketball game but perfect for this event. She was reportedly there for nearly 5 hours so I suspect this outfit was chosen for comfort as well as fashion.

She's wearing her aquatalia booties. I have them in 5 colors. they're super comfy

SG

Friday 12th of January 2018

I want to like this because I love tweed and the neck of this is interesting but I don't like the shape of this coat...it seems kind of boxy? I had thought the first time she wore it that it might work better hanging open...but seeing it on the model, I think while it works better, it still looks boxy unbuttoned as well. Just not loving the shape. I like that she is still going with the more relaxed hair, with a bit of wave, rather than the giant curls.

Faith

Saturday 13th of January 2018

This is how I feel about this coat/ tunic too. Just shapeless and boxy. Not all that flattering imo. Don't care if I ever see it again.

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