The Princess of Wales in a Mix of US and UK Brands for Scouts Engagement

The Princess of Wales displayed her sartorial diplomacy today, mixing British and US brands for an engagement with United States First Lady Melania Trump.

The Princess and the First Lady got together at Frogmore Gardens, along with Chief Scout Dwayne Fields. 

More from this People article. 

It was the first solo outing ever for Princess Kate and Melania, who both appeared to be in their element as they connected with the children, and the Princess of Wales wove a homemade staple that she whipped up herself into the lunch for the youngsters. 

According to the Daily Mail, Princess Kate organized a special packed lunch for the Scouts’ Squirrels, featuring sandwiches with honey she made herself from her family’s hives at Anmer Hall.

They met up with some Squirrel Scouts (Squirrels are ages 4 to 6) from Lewisham, South London, working on their ‘Go Wild!’ badges.

The Princess of Wales is joint president of the UK Scouts, sharing those duties with the Duke of Kent since 2020.

Mr. Fields asked the women to participate in an activity, creating pictures of animals out of leaves the scouts collected.

More from this Telegraph article by Hannah Furness.  

While helping the four to six-year-olds collect leaves and conkers, the Princess revealed that her youngest son, aged seven, had embraced autumn already.

“We keep finding conkers in cupboards, in his bed – conkers everywhere!” she said, adding that he would put them in his toy trucks and play with them.

One child asked the Princess whether she wore a crown. The Princess replied that she sometimes wore a tiara, but only in the evening.

Mrs. Trump with one of the scouts.  

And another view of the Princess with some of the squirrels.

We return to The Telegraph piece.

The Princess asked the children nearest to her: “What are you doing? What are you drawing? Come and show me.”

“Wow,” she responded, hearing about their activities. “I like doing this with my children. I had such fun doing this when I was your age.”

And from The Daily Mail’s coverage. 

The children then asked them to join them in a parachute game, taking side of a large piece of silk and flapping it, trying to get balls down a hole in the middle.

Both laughed as the children excitedly ignored the command ‘gentle shakes’ and shook it wildly.

There was also a picnic for the squirrels in the gardens—more from the BBC’s story. 

Mr. Fields said Melania and Kate were both “very personable” and spent a lot of time with the young people who took part in drawing and other activities.

“Having the princess there, our joint president, alongside the first lady of the United States, is going to be something very special for them in years to come when they understand the true magnitude of what has just happened,” he added.

“I think it is really important to say they both strongly believe in what we do within the scouts movement and this was a great opportunity for us here, the spiritual home of the Scouts where it all began, to showcase scouting to the US.”

The children were given their Go Wild badges by the Princess, First Lady, and Mr. Fields. 

The First Lady wore a safari-style Ralph Lauren jacket, Loro Piana trousers, and Roger Vivier flats.Now, for our look at what Kate wore. 

We begin with the Me + Em Suede Cropped Military Jacket ($475, most recent price, out of stock). Done in olive green suede, the double-breasted jacket showcases military-inspired styling with a loose fit. Thank you to Gabi for this ID.

Beneath the jacket, it looks like the Princess wore another ME + EM design, the Straight Sweater Vest ($345) in ‘chestnut brown’ cashmere. With thanks to Carly at Kate Middleton Style and Middleton Maven for the ID, the piece has a boxy cut with ribbing at the neckline and side slits.

It looks like the Princess chose a skirt from the upscale Ralph Lauren Collection line, the US brand’s Evilyn Birdseye Tweed Skirt in Dark Brown ($1890). Made in 100% birdseye wool with a nubby, textured feel, the pleated skirt hits below the knee. The A-line style is described as having “…trouser-inspired elements” like an extended buttoned waist tab, front zipper, coin pocket, and belt loops.

The skirt is also available at Harrods ($2100) in small sizes at Farfetch ($2637). Our thanks are again directed to Gabi for this ID.

Accessories included a Polo Ralph Lauren belt, the Crocodile-Stamped Leather Belt from the Polo line, featuring a double-prong buckle with the POLO logo made from solid brass atop a calfskin belt.

The Princess brought back her Bespoke Gianvito Rossi boots. The style is similar to the brand’s off-the-rack Glen Boots ($1895).

The boot is made in suede with a block heel that runs about 3.3″ in height. It is also available at Gianvito Rossi and at Nordstrom, as well as My Theresa. (If fond of this style in black, it is 50% off at Farfetch.) 

The Princess’s scarf is made from Sudbury Silk, one of the fabric mills she visited last week. Thanks to Kate Mansey of The Times for this ID information. 

The company noted online that the scarf is made of 100% silk fabric from Stephen Walters’ latest collection—more from the Sudbury Mills social media post.

It was woven especially for her [the Princess] and presented as a gift on her visit to us last week.
At the mill shop we make the best use of surplus from Sudbury Silk Mills. As this is the new collection we do not have this particular design for sale at present. However, we have many other fabrics, scarves, and gifts for sale.

We saw the return of the Teardrop Garnet Charm Hoop Earrings ($125) by Welsh jeweler Spells of Love.

I’ll leave you with one more photo of the Princess at today’s engagement. 

VIDEOS: 

The Royal Family Channel has almost 20 minutes of coverage in this video. 

 

Forbes has 8 minutes+ of coverage from Frogmore Gardens.