The Princess Wears Head to Toe Victoria Beckham for EACH Hospice Visit

The Princess chose Victoria Beckham separates for today’s engagement at the Treehouse Children’s Hospice in Ipswich.

The Treehouse is part of EACH (East Anglia Children’s Hospices), an organization for which the Princess is Royal Patron. You see her above with Kevin Clements, the organization’s chief executive—more from this People story by Simon Perry.  

The charity is one of her longest-standing royal commitments, and the visit marked a meaningful return to the place where she delivered her first public speech as a royal in March 2012, less than a year after marrying Prince William.

Fourteen years later, Princess Kate returned to see how the charity continues to support children and families facing serious illness, highlighting what her office described as the “transformative impact of the care, compassion and connection” it provides.

Here you see the then-Duchess of Cambridge in 2012. 

The Princess began today’s visit by donning a hard hat and reflective vest to look at the construction underway at the Treehouse.

The Ipswich Star’s live coverage of today’s visit gives us details on the project. 

The project will provide new facilities, including a hydrotherapy pool, a wellbeing and therapies suite, a larger car activity area, and a dedicated space for teenagers. 

There will also be an additional bedroom and expanded kitchen and dining facilities.

The new facilities are designed to give children and young people more opportunity to play, explore, express themselves and spend time with others.

The expansion is expected to be completed in 2028. 

The Princess then moved to the facility’s Wellbeing Hut, where she spent time with mothers taking part in a bereavement support group. 

We return to the People article, quoting CEO Kevin Clements.

Princess Kate also spent time with mothers who’ve lost a child. “We’ve been supporting them through bereavement counselling and group work,” Clements says. “She spent some real quality time speaking with them all as a group and expressing a great deal of empathy with them all individually. It was extremely sensitively done.”

Clements also noted that the royal “hugged them all individually at the end of the meeting and had pictures taken with them all. It was a moving moment.”

Next on the agenda, time in the music room. 

The Princess took part in a music therapy session. We go back to the People piece one more time.

Princess Kate also spent time with children and families receiving care at The Treehouse, learning about the creative therapies offered by the hospice, including music therapy and sensory experiences.

These activities are part of EACH’s holistic approach to care, designed to support children’s emotional, social and developmental well-being.

The charity’s philosophy centers on helping seriously ill children enjoy the best possible quality of life, recognizing that they have the same needs as other children — including friendship, fun, family time, activities and laughter. EACH also provides vital support to the families caring for them.

Below, I believe that is four-year-old Primrose Harvey waving at the Princess. Primrose has hypoplastic right-heart syndrome, a rare congenital heart defect. 

The Ipswich Star provides details.

The little girl’s mother Katie told the princess that Primrose has had three heart surgeries, including one at six days old and another only two weeks ago. Kate told Primrose’s mother: “Super brave girl and brave parents too.”

Mrs Harvey said it was “lovely” to speak to the Princess of Wales about her daughter and the support they receive. She said: “It’s really nice for her to come here and see first-hand how much they do for families.”

She called The Treehouse a lifeline, giving Primrose a safe place to join activities and parents a chance to meet others in similar situations.

Here you see the Princess with 13-year-old Charlotte Freegard.

Scotland’s The National provides background in this article. 

Charlotte Freegard, 13, who has a rare genetic muscle disorder called nemaline myopathy, sang Perfect by Ed Sheeran through a microphone for Kate who clapped and told her she was “brilliant”. As the princess sat beside the girl at a piano she said: “Charlotte, that was beautifully sung. Well done you.”

We go back to The National’s story. 

Kate said it was good for the children to have so much musical equipment and asked Charlotte: “You’re able to express yourself and really enjoy yourself?” to which the girl replied: “Definitely.”

The Princess also spent time in the Treehouse sensory room, a soothing, calm space for children and families.

After the Princess wrapped up her time at the Treehouse, she headed to a second engagement. Below, she is with Mark Pendlington, the Lord-Lieutenant of Suffolk.

Her second stop was at Café 98 in Hoveton, the first and only EACH restaurant.

The café is located inside the EACH retail store in Hoveton. Above, you see the Princess with EACH retail director Ian Nicholson. The Daily Mail’s coverage provides details on today’s visit. 

…when she walked in, customers enjoying a cup of tea and browsing the rails couldn’t believe the future Queen had stopped by. 

As she headed over to the counter to greet catering Manager Morgan Neary, a group of ladies called her over, asking: ‘Do you want to see our shopping?’ ‘Oh yes please,’ Kate said, darting over to them. ‘Do you come in here quite a bit?’

Essie Landsborough, 75, who sat opposite Ms Ashton, said ‘yes’ as she rifled through her carrier bag and pulled out a box of two port sippers. Looking at the boxes, Prince William’s wife said: ‘You never know what you’re going to find [in a charity shop]. That’s what’s so nice. It feels a bit more like a treasure hunt.’ 

Interrupting with a tone of surprise, Ms Landsborough said: ‘Do you go to charity shops?’ ‘Yes, I do,’ the princess said. ‘I love going round a charity shop. When I was at university in St Andrew’s, there were a lot of charity shops.’

Looking at the box on the table, these two ladies appear to be Ms. Landsborough and Ms. Ashton.

The Princess also heard about the charity’s retail operation. 

The Princess toured the shop and spent time helping to sort clothing donations.

We return to The Mail’s story. 

The princess was then introduced to Christine Rich, who showed her how items were prepared for sale before they sorted items together, deciding which ones could be sold and which poorer-quality items would be sold as scrap fabric.

Catherine held several of the items up against her as she was sorting through them, and when Ms Rich noticed the label was still on a pink chiffon blouse, she exclaimed: ‘Who would pay £105 for a blouse?’ Before realising she was in the company of a princess, she quickly moved onto the next item.

When Catherine spotted a moth hole in an otherwise immaculate coat, she asked if it could still be sold in the shop.

She was told they had an imperfect rail, and Mr Nicholson interjected: ‘We’ll double the money now, as you touched it!’

After finishing inside the store, she met people gathered outside.

One last snippet from The Mail. 

The princess then walked over to greet the well-wishers, talking about the sudden drop in temperature after the unseasonably warm start to the month and the upcoming half-term break with her children.

While her visit was initially kept under wraps due to the cafe’s small size, word quickly spread, and locals gathered outside to meet Kate. While chatting to them, the princess asked children if they were on half term.

One youngster told her that it’s his last day today, and she replied: ‘My children break up tomorrow and I can’t wait to have them all home.’

Now, for our look at what Kate wore.

We begin with her Victoria Beckham separates. The Katherine Jacket ($1390) in ‘green’ features a tailored, single-breasted silhouette with notched lapels, patch pockets, shoulder pads, and a center-back vent. The jacket has a boxier cut than the Princess often wears and is made from a polyester/virgin wool blend with a touch of elastane for stretch and ease of movement. 

The Princess paired the blazer with the brand’s Alina Trousers ($790), a high-waisted style that is slightly fitted through the thigh before flaring into a flared leg. The trousers have front and back patch pockets, a front zipper, and belt loops. The trousers are lined and made from the same fabric as the jacket. 

Beneath the jacket, the Princess appeared to wear Victoria Beckham’s Marie Wool Jumper ($850) in the ‘dark grey melange’ colorway, crafted from 100% merino wool with saddle-shoulder detailing.

Thank you to Middleton Maven for quickly identifying these pieces.

The Princess accessorized with the Victoria Beckham Portofino Mirror Belt ($390) in burgundy, which she first wore in late September while visiting West Sussex and learning about its volunteer minibus system.

We saw the return of the Gianvito Rossi Lyell Ankle Boots (originally $1995, now sold out) in black leather, a pointed-toe style with a two-inch chunky heel. This is the boot Middleton Maven ID’d as being worn to Leeds in September.

The Princess brought back her Kiki McDonough Green Amethyst Pear Drop Earrings ($1330) in 18K yellow gold with green amethyst (prasiolite) stones. The earrings were first noted at an Early Years engagement in 2023. A quick note for those in the US: Kiki McDonough now has a dedicated US site.

If anyone is interested in donating to EACH, this link will take you to their page.

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Two quick fashion collaboration notes to share: 

• The ELIE SAAB H&M Collection launched today. The capsule line includes womenswear, menswear, plus a range of accessories, like footwear and scarves.

• John Lewis x Rixo, two brands the Princess has worn, also have a capsule collection.  This one offers 44 styles of separates, dresses, and accessories. 

VIDEO:

The Royal Family Channel offers more than 20 minutes of coverage of the visit in this video.