Kate in a Springlike Hint of Mint for Royal Symposium

Kate was in bespoke Jenny Packham for an education symposium today.

The event was at the Royal Society of Medicine in London.  

It was put together by The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry. Here you see the Duchess being greeted by Sir Simon Charles Wessely (L), President of the Royal Society of Medicine; Peter Fonagy (R), Chief Executive at The Anna Freud Centre; and Lorraine Heggessey, the Royal Foundation’s CEO. 

Kensington Palace tweeted that the event brought together “…academics, practitioners and charities to better support the wellbeing of young children.” From The Express story: 

Kate has been struck time again that so many of society’s greatest social and health challenges often stem from problems that start to manifest themselves in the earliest years of life.

The Duchess has been exploring these issues on an individual basis through a number of engagements and roundtable discussions in recent months.

From HuffPo UK: “Specifically, the academics addressed early intervention and support — both emotional and social — for young kids.

Kate delivered remarks at the meeting. 

We need to highlight how important it is to support mothers too, potentially before they even give birth. They need to be aware how vulnerable they might be and, critically, know where they can find help for themselves, as well as for their babies and toddlers. 

In her speech today, The Duchess also said “I really feel so passionately about the importance of early intervention… providing children in their earliest years with social and emotional security builds strong foundations which last a lifetime.”

More from The Telegraph’s story by Hannah Furness:

In a speech at the Royal Society of Medicine, the Duchess said we “cannot intervene early enough” to break “the inter-generational cycle of disadvantage”.

She said: “We need mental health support in primary schools before the biological changes and academic pressures of adolescence kick in.

More from the story: 

Professor Peter Fonagy, chief executive of the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, described the Duchess as the person “who has done more to turn the tide of stigma around mental health more than any other single individual that I could name.”

He had seen her visiting providers, “energising, enthusing, deepening the commitment of front-line workers in an invaluable way”, he said.

Kensington Palace posted info about the event on Twitter and Instagram. 

At today’s event, Kate announced the Royal Foundation would put together a steering group to look into the best ways “…to support academics, practitioners and charities.”

The bespoke pieces are by Jenny Packham. The coat looks like it may be constructed of a silk blend, with multiple front panels, an open front with only the ribbon ties as a means of closing the front, and pick-stitching in a contrasting thread color on the pocket flaps and the front closure. We don’t have a stellar look at the Duchess’s dress today; it does appear to be made of a lighter-weight fabric.

Some of Kate’s previous maternity ensembles by Jenny Packham have shared design elements like shoulder darts, jewel neckline, a wider front placket on the coat and empire waistlines.

Kate carried her Loeffler Randall Tab Clutch for the engagement.

This specific style is no longer available. Shopbop offers the design in a number of colors and finishes.

And wore her Gianvito Rossi suede pumps in the praline colorway, the lower-heeled version ($675).

The Duchess wears these most frequently in the 105mm heel seen below left, and occasionally the 85mm heel shown below right. (They also come in 70mm, that’s roughly a 3″ heel.)

Kate also had on her Kiki McDonough earrings; it appears she wore the green amethyst cushion drops. 

Kate’s hair was worn down with a loose curl. The Telegraph reports the color is new. 

Today during a visit to the Royal Society of Medicine the Duchess of Cambridge debuted a new hair colour that seems to be a deeper hue that her usual soft brown shade. Wearing a custom Jenny Packham coat and dress, the Duchess’ hair was a gorgeous, rich, chestnut colour- a perfect contrast to her green outift. 

I am not a good enough judge to determine if it is a new shade or the way the sunlight reflected on the Duchess as she left today’s event. I do know it looked slightly shorter than it did the last time we saw it worn down. 

Here is Kate’s speech in its entirety.

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Also today, an update on the Catherine Walker coat worn this past Saturday for the Irish Guards engagement, as well as in January when visiting Stockholm, Sweden.

Several of you commented (wisely so!) on Saturday’s post about the assertion that Kate’s collar and cuffs were by Troy London, saying the company’s detachable collar just didn’t look the same as the collar on Kate’s coat. I remember Penelope mentioning this in a comment and several others shared similar sentiments. After seeing a tweet from Monique Jessen of People (thank you to Laura for sharing the tweet) about this yesterday I emailed Catherine Walker. They tell me the collar and cuffs are a fixed part of the garment, not detachable.

The information that the collar and cuffs were by Troy London originally came from the company; Troy London emailed me with the information in January when the coat was first worn. I’m sure it was a mistake on the company’s part, certainly not anything done intentionally. I do think it looks like the Duchess wore the Troy collar and cuffs with the Ida Sjöstedet Coat seen January 31st.

I will be updating the previous posts to reflect the updated information.  

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Finally, news about a new webpage dedicated to Baby Cambridge #3.

The new page is part of the official Royal Family website. This went up a week ago today; among other things, it seems a very wise way to try and manage the information flow and the media once the new Prince or Princess decides to make his/her presence known.

We’ll see you tomorrow for Kate’s engagements with William as they take part in events celebrating the Commonwealth! 

LINKAGE:

• The Daily Mail’s story on today’s symposium is here; The Telegraph’s story is here; The Express coverage is here
• The Telegraph piece about Kate’s hair color is here; PopSugar’s gallery from today’s event is here; the Fug Girls slideshow is here