The Princess Mixes Old & New Styles for Hospital and Garden Visit

The Princess of Wales mixed old and new pieces for a visit to the Colchester Hospital in Essex, about two hours northeast of Windsor.

We learn more about today’s engagement from Richard Palmer’s story for Yahoo UK. 

The princess, who revealed she had been diagnosed with cancer in March last year, praised the centre’s “holistic” approach to the support it offers patients, relatives and carers which includes counselling and dietary advice.

She spoke with patients and caregivers.

More about the Princess’s conversations with staff and patients from this ITV story. 

While chatting to a group of the centre’s users, volunteers and staff, the princess said: “It’s life-changing for anyone, through first diagnosis or post-treatment and things like that, it is life-changing experience both for the individual patient but also for the families as well.

“Actually it sometimes goes unrecognised. You don’t necessarily, particularly when it’s the first time, you don’t appreciate how much impact it is going to have.

“You have to find your new normal and that takes time.

“Someone described the sort of healing, recovery journey to me as being like a sort of zig-zag.

Here is a video of the Princess talking about her journey. 

 We return to Richard Palmer’s story. 

She added: “There is this whole phase when you finish your treatment that you, yourself, everybody expects you, right you’ve finished your time, go, you’re better, and that’s not the case at all.”

The Princess also spent time outside at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Wellbeing Garden at the hospital.

More about the garden from the RHS description. 

Located at the hospital entrance near a dedicated Cancer Wellbeing Centre and the existing lake, sustainability has been at the heart of the build and the garden has been designed to be resilient to climate change. The garden is in Essex, the driest county in the UK and includes drought-tolerant planting, reducing the need for watering.

The Princess helped plant some of the fifty “Catherine’s Roses” donated to the hospital’s garden. We return to Richard Palmer’s story one more time.

Foregoing gardening gloves which were offered to her, she knelt down to plant the roses using her bare hands and a trowel to pat down the soil alongside Adam Frost, the award-winning garden designer who led the design of the space.

You may recall the Royal Horticultural Society announced in May they named a new rose after the Princess of Wales, “to celebrate the incredible healing power of nature and raise awareness of the important role that spending time outdoors plays in bringing us joy and supporting our mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing.”

£5 from the sale of each rose plant will be donated to the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. We learn more from The Telegraph’s coverage. 

Some 500 of the plants are being donated to wellbeing and community gardens across the UK this summer, including Maggie’s gardens for people affected by cancer, East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices and Horatio’s gardens for those living with spinal injuries.

The Princess did a walkabout, speaking with well-wishers gathered outside.

More from Rebecca English’s Daily Mail story. 

In the pouring rain, as the engagement overran by about half an hour, she told hospital staff and patients who had waited outside to see her: ‘I’m just washing my hands – I’ll be back.’

The deeply personal words from the Princess came as she met fellow patients at a cancer wellbeing centre at Colchester Hospital, helping to plant roses in a garden designed to help visitors find peace. She repeatedly emphasised the importance of patients and their families being able to find support through their illness, saying it was too often difficult to reach.

The princess, speaking to therapist Amanda Green during a walkabout in heavy rain afterwards, disclosed that she had not yet tried reflexology but had undergone acupuncture as part of her own health journey.

‘And to have a place like this to have the support network, through creativity and singing or gardening whatever it might be is so valuable and it’s great this community has it.

‘It would be great if lots of communities had this kind of support.’

It was a drizzly, damp day. 

She also posed for some selfies. 

Here is a video posted by Kensington Palace following today’s engagement. 

Honoured to mark the planting of Catherine’s Rose at the RHS Wellbeing Garden in Colchester. A gesture rooted in hope and care.

Grateful to spend time with NHS staff and volunteers tending this space, and to see the rose incorporated into gardens supporting recovery and… pic.twitter.com/Pcm5oNw4mw

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) July 2, 2025

And here is another social media post from Kensington Palace.

Now, let’s look at what Kate wore.

The Princess brought back her Blazé Milano Wind Hunter Charmer Pinstriped Grain de Poudre ($1910, past season, sold out). The double-breasted design is crafted of a silk/linen blend with a subtle pinstripe, peaked lapels, and the brand’s signature half-moon-shaped “Smiley pockets.” Grain de Poudre is a tightly woven material used for suiting, often referring to wool.

A closer look at some of the blazer details. 

The blazer was initially worn to the International Air Tattoo in July 2023. 

Beneath the jacket, the Princess wore a shirt by Ralph Lauren, with thanks to Middleton Maven for this ID. The Capri Striped Cotton Shirt ($470) is made of 100% cotton and features a spread collar, button-front design, and a relaxed fit. I show it as offered at Ralph Lauren, but it is also available at Saks, Bergdorf Goodman, and Neiman Marcus. UPDATE: The Princess’s shirt is in a past-season colorway of tan and white. The shirt shown below is in a contemporary color called moss with white.

The style comes in additional colorways, including blue and white, black and white, and an orange and white stripe. There is also a linen version of the style. 

There are a couple of possibilities for the trousers. I will update when I return from an engagement I have this afternoon that I can’t postpone.  I am back from my appointment, and it looks like Middleton Maven also has an ID on the trousers. She suggests the Joseph Coleman Gabardine Stretch Trousers (originally £295, about $400 at today’s exchange rates), and I think she is correct. They are a blend of cotton, viscose, and elastane, and feature a mid-rise waist, side slit pockets, jetted back pockets, belt loops, and a front zipper. The style is available in a range of colors. Thanks also to Princess of Wales Closet for her work on this ID.

We saw the return of the Veja Esplar Leather Trainers ($89 on sale) in the white/platine colorway. They are also available at Veja ($150), at Feature ($175), and at Amazon($146).

The Princess paired her Cartier Trinity earrings ($3350) in bands of pink, yellow, and white gold with her Auree Bali Garnet Birthstone Necklace ($490). The necklace description reads, “The gold disc, which can be engraved with a name or special date, is polished on one side and brushed on the other, so you can wear it either way around.” It appears that the Princess’s disc, beneath the garnet, has been inscribed with text on one side. The necklace was first noted in a video released in June 2022 of the Princess baking with the Wales children.

Most recently, the earrings were worn in January for a visit to Royal Marsden Hospital, where the Princess received cancer treatment.  

I’ll leave you with one more photo from today’s engagement.

VIDEOS: 

The Royal Family Channel offers almost three minutes of coverage in this video.