Kate in Familiar Pieces for a Day in the Park with UK Scouting

The Duchess was in familiar pieces for today’s engagement with the Scouts. 

Above, Kate being welcomed by Jennifer Tolhurst, the Lord-Lieutenant of Essex.

Kate was also greeted by several young Scouts and had a look at some of their merit badges.

A quick video from Roya Nikkhah of The Times.

I’m with the Duchess of Cambridge today as she visits ⁦@UKScouting⁩ at ⁦@gilwellpark⁩ which is marking its centenary, to see new pilot schemes aimed at encouraging younger children into Scouting #DuchessofCambridge pic.twitter.com/x3qbBLm0Of

— Roya Nikkhah (@RoyaNikkhah) March 28, 2019

The Duchess is a volunteer with the Scouts and has taken part in many engagements with the organization, including a snowy training exercise at Great Tower Scout Camp in 2013, and a Cub Scout meeting in 2016.

The Queen is the royal patron of the Scouts.

More on today’s engagement from Simon Perry’s People story:

The mom of three, who was a Brownie as a young girl alongside her sister Pippa Middleton, paid a visit to the Scouts’ headquarters on the outskirts of London on Thursday to see the youth movement’s new program for 4 and 5 year olds.

UK Scouting currently reaches 473,000 young people between the ages of 6 and 25.

Now there is a new effort to also reach younger children. More from a Palace news release:

Kate spent time with parents and leaders and children from three areas of the U.K. who are taking part in trials for a new pilot program for the youngest Scouts.

The pilot has been exploring the potential of providing Scouting to children between the ages of 4 and 6 as research has shown that the first five years of a child’s life are more important to the development, and future health and happiness, of a child than any other single moment in their lifetime.

The pilot program is designed to equip children with “…life skills and values of teamwork, leadership, and resilience.”

One of the program activities was making balloon rockets. 

Then it was time to test them.

Another activity was boat building; I think this young man was working on a sailboat.  

Kate looked at a den made by the children, constructed with twigs, sticks, and leaves.

Then she crawled into the structure…  

…joking that she hoped it was waterproof as it was doused from above by some of the scouts.

“It’s very waterproof, isn’t it?” — The Duchess of Cambridge joins in with den building @UKScouting Gilwell Park ? pic.twitter.com/NWGtreqEbb

— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) March 28, 2019

More on this part of the day from People:

The den had just been built by the youngest Scouts, the Beavers. They had tested whether it was water proof – and the results were almost a complete success.

“Three trials were dry, one was wet! We are very proud that it was three quarters there,” says Frankii Newbury, the early year’s pilot project leader. “[Kate] got straight in there with one of our Beavers and checked it out. It was wonderful and the Scouts absolutely loved her. The highlight was the Duchess, smack bang in the middle of it all, getting in a den — braver woman than I am.”

The Duchess also shared her hopes about the Cambridge children and Scouting. From The Daily Mail’s coverage:

The mum-of three also revealed that she wants all three children to join the scouts, including Prince George, 5, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis

More from The Daily Mirror’s story:

Explorer Scout Tahseen Patel, 17, gave Kate a tour during her visit.

She said: “She was interested in the early years and how you learn things in Scouting that you don’t learn in school and elsewhere, like you learn way more things in Scouting.”

“And how she wants her children to grow up in the Scouting movement, not just in school, because she tries doing things at home but there’s only so much you can do and you need to build relationships with other people.”

Kate’s hand was painted by the scouts during today’s session.

The Duchess chatting with a scout.

Today’s event was at Gilwell Park, recognized internationally as the home of Scouting. Today a group of Scouts ages 14 to 18 showed the Duchess some of the Park’s iconic features.

Among the many points of interest: the famous Gilwell Oak, named UK Tree of the Year in 2017.

Below, a statue at the park of Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scouts movement. 

The park is a Scout campsite, training and adventure center, and home to the organization’s U.K. headquarters. Gilwell Park is marking its 100th anniversary this year.

To mark the anniversary, the Duchess planted a much smaller oak, a sapling.

A group photo. 

Now to our look at what Kate wore. 

We’ll start with her Barbour jacket.

It is the brand’s Defence Jacket, a piece the Duchess has had for many years. It is one of the brand’s utility jackets, with a high collar, storm-fly front placket, snap-shut bellows-style pockets, epaulets, and a tartan cotton lining.

Like many Barbour pieces, the jacket has a waxed coating that provides better protection from the elements. That water- and wind-resistant coating can be reapplied. The company recommends doing this every year, although some of us let it go a little longer (cough-cough) than that. Below left, a can of the coating at Orvis ($19) for those industrious enough to reproof pieces at home.   

Many of us send pieces directly to Orvis and have it done by the company.

The Duchess also had on her Mockneck Sweater in Supersoft Yarn ($49.99) from J Crew.

The official color name for the piece worn today is ‘mahogany.’ Kate also has the sweater in the loden green colorway.

It is a nylon/merino wool/alpaca/elastane blend, and available in a wide range of colors. A number of WKWers have purchased the sweater, and their reviews have been very positive. UPDATE: While many have been pleased with their sweaters, not everyone is thrilled with the quality. There is a thread on the Facebook page with input on size, quality and other issues.

I don’t have a firm ID on Kate’s trousers. I have seen suggestions they are the Zara pair she has worn before, but they do not have the stud on the back pockets the Zara pair has.

Kate wore her See by Chloé Liegi Ankle Boots. The combat-style boots are suede with leather trim and a chunky sole.

She sported the official UK Scouts Adult Scarf (£8.50). It is “…blue with a red, white and blue border and a Union Flag badge on the apex.” Our thanks to Elizabeth at Kate’s Closet for the scarf information. 

The Duchess wore a pair of earrings we’ve not previously seen. 

They look like they might be sterling silver with three tiny segments in a gold tone. At this point they are unidentified.

UPDATE: Because the Defence Jacket is such a popular piece, I have added some options to the repliKate Outerwear page.

And five more. 

VIDEOS:

This Royal Family Channel piece runs about 4:20.

This PA video runs about 45 seconds.

The Duchess of Cambridge has said she would like her children to join the Scouting movement when they are older pic.twitter.com/dQHEyw2Omj

— Press Association (@PA) March 28, 2019

LINKAGE:

• The UK Scouting website is here; the Facebook page is here; the Twitter feed here; the Instagram page is here
• Learn all about Gilwell Park on this site; a Facebook page is here
• If interested in US Scouting opportunities, Boy Scouts of America are here, Girl Scouts are here
• The Daily Mail’s coverage is here; a Daily Mirror story is here; The Telegraph’s story by Hannah Furness is here
• A Hello! piece is here; People’s story by Simon Perry is here; a PopSugar gallery is here; a Daily Mail gallery is here; the Fug Girls post is here; Town and Country’s coverage is here