Day seven of the royal tour kicked off today with a visit by Will and Kate to the Prime Minister’s cabinet in Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands. The couple were each given a traditional necklace by the Prime Minister. Here we can see an image of the couple wearing their new gift:
Max Foster, CNN – Twitter, via What Kate Wore
The necklaces included the words “Prince William” and “Princess Kate”.
The trio had a photograph taken together before the politician joked that the photograph would allow The Queen to see they had visited, with William making a quip about Her Majesty being able to check up on them. Clearly in good spirits, William then sat at the cabinet table, banged his hand down and joked ‘where’s the agenda’.
Shortly after the Cabinet visit, the couple made a short journey to The Festival Village in Honiara, where they watched cultural performances. The village is like a ‘living museum’ with nine thatched huts, with each featuring singers, dancers and handicrafts from each of the nine provinces that make up the Solomon Islands.
Courtesy friend of What Kate Wore, Brynnan and Edwina Bartholomew of 7NewsSydney – both via What Kate Wore
Many of the villagers wore traditional dress; many of women were topless, or had their breasts simply covered by handcrafted tops made from grass. In the province of Choisuel exposed breasts are a normal part of life – according to the Belfast Telegraph, both william and Kate seemed comfortable talking to the women. The couple feeling at ease with the nudity obviously caused some notable contrast to the furore surrounding the topless pictures of Kate that have been sold this week, which didn’t escape the attention of some newspaper publications.
During the day, Kate was given a decorative headdress made from frangipani and bougainvillaea flowers, which she wore for the duration of the visit. Here we can take a look at Kate wearing the pretty pink and cream headdress:
The couple also visited Burns Creek on the outskirts of Honiara, a community impacted by high property rates, leading to the levels of chronic hunger and malnutrition that are among the highest in the world.
William and Kate met a family who have been helped by a program led by the Solomon Islands Small Business Enterprise Company in partnership with World Vision. Here we see the husband, Cain with his pig farming business, a project World Vision helped with, so he can earn a good living:
Photo, courtesy World Vision via What Kate Wore.
Apparently, The Duke and Duchess thought the names “Will” and “Kate” would be apt for the piglets. More on that story, and plenty of detail from other meetings over at What Kate Wore.
Next on the agenda was a visit to the Commonwealth Youth Pacific Centre, where the Leadership and Integrity Conference was being held. Kate and William split into two parties for a short while. Kate met with a group of women to discuss inequality in Melanesian society. On arrival, she was met by nine women representing each province in the Solomon Islands, again, each in traditional dress. Meanwhile, William gave a speech and handed out six Duke of Edinburgh awards to young people from all across the Islands.
The Duke and Duchess then met up again to attend a memorial ceremony for The Coastwatchers, where they both met some of the last survivors of the undercover war against the Japanese in the Pacific.
Kate’s outfit:
Kate wore a primrose yellow sleeveless dress from upper-end of the high street store Jaeger, here we take another look at Kate courtesy of World Vision:
The “Pleated Shirt Dress” by Jaeger was from the summer ‘collection’. It featured cap sleeves, a shirt collar, button fastening down the front and soft pleating throughout. The cute belt and fitted top adds to the overall flattering finish. The dress did retail at £180, but was on sale for £75 recently. Sadly, it’s sold out (but do keep checking, Jaeger are known to re-release stock that has been sent back to their depot.)
Incidentally, the dress is one I picked out on this very blog as an alternative to the primrose yellow Jenny Packham dress Kate wore in Canada on the last tour. I wrote that it’s “very Kate”. When I saw her wearing the very same dress, it made me chuckle no end.
With the dress, Kate wore her trusty L.K. Bennett Sledge pumps, along with her Kiki McDonough Citrine Drop earrings.
Is that the same dress that she wore to Yellowknife, Canada last year?
No, Ellie. The one she wore to Canada last year had 3 or 4 buttons in the front , no belt, and was a Jenny Packham dress. Also, if my eyes don’t deceive me, it is a tad lighter on the color than this one. Hope this helps. 🙂
Kate shouldn’t bother buying any more clothes because she prefers going naked.
dont be mean Ann….or jealous