Kate in Crisp Shirtdress for Royal Foundation COVID-19 Meeting UPDATED

The Duchess wore a crisp white shirtdress for a meeting at Sandringham earlier this week.

The Duke and Duchess met with representatives of four charities which will benefit from a £1.8 Million COVID-19 Response Fund set up by The Royal Foundation to support frontline workers affected by the pandemic.

Two of the workers attending the meeting are emergency responders and two are mental health counselors. A total of ten charities will receive grants from the fund. More from The Royal Foundation. 

The grants – made to ten leading charities at the heart of mental health and frontline support – build on the work that The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge has already done in recent months to support those on the frontline of the pandemic in the UK, and the mental health sector.

Working in partnership with NHS England, some of the funds will ensure individual grief trauma counseling will be offered to all frontline workers.

More from Emily Nash in her Hello! story: 

The bespoke fund will boost a range of projects, from ensuring all emergency workers have access to individual grief trauma from Hospice UK, to helping early years charity Best Beginnings support an extra 20,000 new mothers , thanks to a community mental health training project to reach pregnant women and new parents. 

It will also support teachers, children and parents in coping with mental health issues such as anxiety as schools re-open in September, by offering training and resources from Place2Be and The Anna Freud Centre.

A news release explains the Duchess told workers, “Over recent months we have all been in awe of the incredible work that frontline staff and emergency responders have been doing in response to COVID-19, but we know that for many of them, their families, and for thousands of others across the UK, the pandemic will have a lasting impact on their mental health.”

There will also be funding directed toward building the capacity of the Heads Together partners as they work jointly on a campaign to directly address the nation’s mental health as the population adjusts to life after COVID-19.  The Fund also ensures: 

• Over 250,000 emergency responders will have access to peer-to-peer support through Mind’s Blue Light program
• Teachers, children, and their parents will be supported to cope with mental health needs, including self-care and managing anxiety as schools re-open, thanks to training and resources from Place2Be and The Anna Freud Centre. 
• An additional 20,000 new mothers will be supported by Best Beginnings, thanks to a community mental health training project to reach pregnant women and new parents.

Now for our look at what Kate wore for the Sandringham meeting. 

The Duchess was in a classic summer shirtdress with a button front, short sleeves, front pleats, self-belt, and a full skirt. A big part of the story on the dress is the material; it looks like it might be cotton poplin, ideal for this time of year. The material is dotted with understated embroidery in a soft blue and aqua. 

The dress hasn’t been identified yet, but I hope to make time to look for it tonight.  It has a ‘very Boden’ look and is similar to the brand’s ‘Anastasia’ style but it’s not that dress.

UPDATE July 24: With thanks to Caroline Parr of The Daily Mail, the dress is by Suzannah, the British label’s Cotton Shirt Dress Blue Polka ($1266). 

The piece is made from lightweight organic cotton with a semi-fitted bodice, with side seam pockets, the coordinating belt, and box pleats providing the volume for the skirt. The company notes, “We are now producing this gorgeous timeless piece from our archive using sustainable GOTS certified Italian Cotton. The dress is lined in eco-cotton.” Suzannah is donating 20% of each dress sale to The Royal Foundation Covid-19 fund.  

(I did a couple of quick options on the RepliKate Dresses page.)  

In one of the photos, you can just see that Kate wore her Castañer Carina wedge espadrilles ($190), shown below as worn on another occasion. 

The jute-soled wedges are handmade in Spain and have a suede upper, ankle ties, and a 3.5″ heel atop a .5″ platform. 

Kate’s bracelet appears to be by Sézane, the label’s Stéphanie Cuff style ($105).

The bracelet beads are howlite, a light mineral (hydrated calcium borosilicate) with gold-plate over brass.  There are matching Stéphanie earrings ($105). 

Our thanks to Kate’s Royal Closet for the bracelet ID.  

It also looked like the Duchess brought back her Daniella Draper Cupid Hoop earrings.

UPDATE #2 July 24: With apologies, I forgot to include the standard mask discussion mantra: Masks are not required in the UK in many situations, including the sort of event shown in this post.  From this BBC story: “Face coverings must be worn in enclosed public spaces in England from 24 July.  This includes shops, supermarkets, shopping centres, banks, building societies and post offices. It extends to train and bus stations and airports.” Please refrain from comments about the topic; we don’t want to litigate the mask discussion here on the site. 

Linkage:

• The Royal Foundation background on the fund may be seen here  
• A Daily Mirror piece is here; the Daily Mail‘s coverage is here; a Belfast Telegraph article is here; The Daily Express story is here 
• Emily Nash’s Hello article is here; Simon Perry’s People story is here