Kate Middleton chose a royal blue hue for today’s emotional visit to a leading cancer hospital in the north of England.
The Princess of Wales rewore a mid-length coatdress by Eponine London—first seen in 2021 for a climate change conference—as she toured The Christie’s Withington site in Manchester.
Kate might have selected the blue shade as a tribute to the NHS—it’s the dominant colour used by the organisation in their branding and communications.
The Princess has form for this—she’s chosen the colour for NHS events and visits on multiple occasions over the last 15 years.
The Princess also selected a pair of gold ‘bee’ charm earrings for today’s visit. The bee is associated with Manchester, and has been the city’s emblem for over 150 years. It’s come to represent a sense of unity in the city.
The Christie is a specialist cancer centre that serves Greater Manchester and Cheshire in the north of England, though approximately one quarter of patients are referred from other areas of the UK for specialist treatment.
It’s the largest single-site cancer centre in Europe, and treats more than 60,000 patients each year.
Today’s visit highlighted the healing power of holistic therapies given alongside clinical treatments like chemotherapy and radiotherapy for people living with and beyond cancer. The centre supports patients’ physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being by providing a range of holistic therapies to help alleviate symptoms common with diagnosis and treatment of cancer, including stress, depression, fear, worry and anxiety-induced nausea.
The Christie also hosts drop-in art classes, has a wellbeing garden and a chaplaincy service. All free of charge to patients and carers alike.
Kate began today’s visit at the Oak Road Treatment Centre. Here, she met patients undergoing chemotherapy and spoke to those receiving complementary therapy, too.
One patient, Claire, unexpectedly bumped into the Princess as she went to ring the ‘end-of-treatment’ bell.
Claire had just finished nearly six months of treatment.
The ‘end of treatment’ bell is a tradition in many oncology units. Patients ring a physical bell to signify the monumental milestone of completing their course of therapy.
The Princess hugged Claire after the emotional moment and congratulated her.
She also hugged Claire’s partner and acknowledged how hard the journey is for loved ones, too.
Watch the moment, here:
After, Kate visited the hospital’s art room, where she met resident artist Patricia Mountford and joined in with a session.
As she got stuck in, the Princess discussed how creative expression serves as a powerful tool in recovery. A patient named Andi described the art sessions as a “lifeline”.
Of course, art has long been close to Kate’s heart—the Princess studied History of Art at the University of St Andrews (where she met William, no less) and since joining the Royal Family, she’s spoken about the healing power of creativity.
She’s long made the case that art can be used as a tool to support mental health and child development. (Below, Kate during a craft session in an Italian school last month.)
Next, Kate toured the centre’s wellbeing garden and spoke with gardener Phil Walker. She heard how the space allows patients and staff to pause and reflect.
Like art, Kate has championed the outdoors throughout her royal career, speaking about the benefits of spending time outside and how it benefits our mental and physical health.
Kate has repeatedly spoken about nature and the positive role it played in her own journey following her own cancer diagnosis, treatment and recovery. (Below, the Princess in the ‘Mother Nature’ video released earlier this year.)
Today’s visit concluded in the hospital’s Teenage and Young Adult unit, where Kate met patients and their families.
She spoke to a young patient, Ruby, who had just completed her treatment for the day. The pair shared a hug:
The Princess also admired Ruby’s very colourful manicure.
Ruby showed the Princess her shoes too, which are printed with pictures of her pet cat.
Let’s transition into the outfit section now.
Kate’s outfit:
The Princess repeated her sapphire-blue tailored coat dress from the now-defunct label Eponine London. It was from their spring/summer 2020 collection.
The garment features a wrap-front design with soft shoulder tucks that flow down the bodice towards the V-neckline. Three-quarter-length sleeves and a flattering fit-and-flare silhouette complete the design.
Kate debuted the coatdress back in 2021 at the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow, Scotland (below).
The garment was a fitting choice for the eco-conscious event, as Eponine London was known for its green credentials. The brand produced all its pieces in its London studio using locally sourced wool and recycled materials.
The Princess owns a very similar design from the brand in burgundy. She debuted the garment during the 2022 ‘Together at Christmas’ carol service (below).
Eponine London was the brainchild of designer Jet Shenkman, who founded the label in 2011. The label was known for its vintage, tailored aesthetic (1950s/1960s silhouettes with bold colours and bright patterns).
Sadly, Shenkman announced the label would close in autumn 2025, following its AW25 collection, pointing to the decline in the market for occasionwear following the pandemic.
Let’s turn to Kate’s jewellery and accessories now. As I wrote in the post’s opening section, Kate wore a symbolic pair of earrings:
They feature a black and gold bee suspended from an irregular-shaped hoop.
I haven’t managed a closer look—but I think she’s wearing them back to front today, as the wings do not look as detailed, and I cannot see the eyes or diamond stripe on the body.
The bee charm is a fitting choice for today’s visit, as the winged insect is an enduring symbol associated with Manchester:
The Manchester worker bee is one of the best-known symbols of Manchester and has been an emblem for the city for over 150 years. The bee denotes Mancunians’ hard work ethic and the city being a hive of activity. It has also come to represent the sense of unity in our great city.
Manchester City Council
They’re bespoke, designed by Vanleles, the luxury jewellery house founded by jeweller Vania Leles.
Vania was born and raised in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, and educated between London and Lisbon. After graduating from the Gemological Institute of America and honing her craft at Graff, De Beers and Sotheby’s, she launched VANLELES Diamonds in 2015 from her atelier in Mayfair, London.
Today, her creations are regularly featured in the world’s top magazines and have been worn by some of the most fashionable women in the world, including Queen Rania of Jordan and pop sensation Rihanna, in addition to the Princess of Wales.
For a sense of the price of the bee earrings, most pieces on the VANLELES website are listed as “POA” or Price on Application. The others retail between £12,000 and £27,000.
Kate debuted the ‘bee’ earrings in 2022 during a previous visit to Manchester. She was in the city for engagements marking the fifth anniversary of the 2017 terror attack that took place during an Ariana Grande concert (below).
Following the concert, the bee became a symbol to unite the city against terrorism and hate.
On that occasion, Kate wore the earrings with an additional gold honeycomb charm, which she removed for today’s engagement.
Kate is, of course, a keen beekeeper. I suspect William or another family member commissioned the earrings for the Princess as a tribute to her hobby.
Let’s look at Kate’s pendant now. It’s by Astley Clarke and known as the “Stilla Pendant“. This is the tenth time she’s worn it in public to date.
It features a blue Lapais Lazuli stone set in 18ct yellow gold vermeil, suspended from an adjustable demi-fine chain (also made from 18ct yellow gold vermeil) and finished with a ‘gold nugget’ detail.
The gold vermeil and semi-precious stone place this necklace at the more accessible end of the price scale (especially compared to the bee earrings!) In 2021, it retailed for £160.
Today, Asprey no longer sell the necklace. But they do offer an updated style: the Stilla ‘Lapis Locket Necklace’ for £265, which is larger, has space for two photographs, and comes on a longer chain.
Let’s finish with Kate’s shoes. They’re by Gianvito Rossi.
They’re the ‘Gianvito 85’ style in the colour ‘praline’.
The shoes feature an 85mm heel (hence the name) and a sharply pointed toe. They’re handcrafted in Italy from 100% calf’s leather.
Kate debuted the lower-heeled shoe at the Battle of Passchendaele commemorations in 2017. She’s worn them on a handful of occasions in public.
The Princess owns the Gianvito 85 shoe in three other colours, too. She also owns the same shoe with the higher ‘105mm’ heel in 11 different shades.
Rossi is easily Kate’s go-to shoe designer of the last decade. She owns multiple pairs of boots and sandals by the Italian designer, too.
If you’d like to own a pair of the Rossi 85 pumps, the designer stocks them on his website in 15 different colours. Sadly, the pinky-biege praline colour is no longer available; however, there are plenty of other nice alternatives.
That’s all for today–assuming Kate doesn’t conduct another engagement tomorrow, I’ll likely have another post for you on Saturday. William and Kate are expected to attend Peter Phillips and Harriet Sperling’s wedding at Gatcombe Park—the press say they’ll be at the ceremony and stay for the reception too. Exciting.
Leave a Reply