Kate Middleton braves the rain as she tours National History Museum gardens

The Prince and Princess of Wales returned to royal duties on Thursday following their summer hiatus.  The couple visited the newly transformed gardens at the Natural History Museum in London. 

Kate took the nature theme literally, wearing an earthy colour palette of green and brown tones for the visit. (Click to skip to full outfit details.)

Although the weather was glum, Kate’s new hairdo brought a bit of summer cheer to the afternoon—the Princess sported lusciously long curls in a sunkissed golden brown colour. 

What fab curls!

We’re so used to seeing the Princess with chestnut brown hair, the transformation became quite newsworthy in itself! 

The couple spent time with children and young people during the visit.

They also took part in some of the activities on offer.

The activities are part of learning programmes that see children connecting with nature and working to boost the prevalence of biodiversity in urban areas. 

Each activity had a nature-related theme, of course.

The royals were originally scheduled to go ‘pond dipping’ in the Nature Discovery Garden, but the activity was called off due to the rain.

During one particularly torrential downpour, the Princess held her umbrella over the children and said, “let’s take them inside, it’s pouring”.   

Everybody relocated to the nearby Nature Activity Centre for a minibeast-related activity instead.

The newly transformed gardens are part of the Natural History Museum’s Urban Nature Project—an initiative to inspire a new urban nature movement by transforming the museum’s grounds into a biodiverse green space and empowering people to connect with, understand, and protect nature in cities.

The museum’s gardens opened last year and serve as a ‘living laboratory’, allowing visitors and scientists to identify and monitor wildlife in an urban environment. 

The garden’s wetland, woodland and grassland habitats are a haven for local wildlife—and for visitors to the museum. There are ponds, sculptures, fossils and plants to explore.  Plus, the museum have included 12 ‘hidden treasures’ to discover, including a cast of a real dinosaur skeleton. 

By combining public engagement with the museum’s unique approach to science, the new gardens and Nature Park programme are motivating young people to take positive action for nature in the urban areas in which they live, work and study. The gardens and Nature Park Programme also serve to encourage people to spend more time in nature through hands- on activities and by highlighting the accessibility of nature in urban settings.

Natural History Museum

Kate last visited the Natural History Museum in 2021 to learn more about the Urban Nature Project. At the time, it was in the early stages of development.  (Fashion fans will remember she wore a gorgeous salmon pink jacket, ‘mom’ jeans and Veja sneakers on that occasion). 

The Natural History Museum have welcomed more than five million visitors to the gardens in the twelve months they have been open.

If you find yourself in South Kensington, London, the gardens are free to visit and they’re open daily (excluding three days over Christmas). No ticket required.  

Let’s look at Kate’s outfit now.

Kate’s outfit:

She might have returned to work following the summer break with gorgeously sunkissed hair, but her outfit said “business as usual”. 

By that, I mean it was the sort of ‘uniform’ we’ve come to expect her to wear at such engagements—functional but unremarkable, an outdoorsy look in earthy, neutral tones.

Don’t get me wrong, I like the outfit (I particularly love the shirt —I think it elevates everything), but we’ve seen several iterations of this ensemble before, often during nature-themed outdoor engagements:

Case in point. All from this year. A lot of earthy tones!

I’m not complaining, she looks Princess-perfect as per usual—but I think we can agree that this outfit is not bold, attention-grabbing or particularly fashion-forward. Especially if you compare it to the ensemble from the first engagement in 2021:

The coral blazer was perfection. And who doesn’t love seeing the princess dressed down in jeans and sneakers? Caveat: that was June to be fair. And it was before she took on the ‘Princess of Wales’ role.

So I guess the question is, is Kate dressing in darker tones and understated pieces to echo the message from the palace earlier this year, that she wants focus on her work and not her appearance? Is she dressing ‘boring’ and eschewing colour as a statement? (Remember back to winter, when every outfit was brown or black?)

Or, am I reading too much into this? Perhaps she just chose autumnal/nature-related colours for the visit for obvious reasons.

Let’s not forget that Kate’s known for wearing a lot of green anyway (it is her favourite colour, after all). Plus moss and olive are both on trend this year.  (I went shopping earlier today and noticed the hues everywhere.)

Right, let’s look at each piece in turn.

We’ll start with the jacket, a green tweed blazer from Ralph Lauren.

Kate debuted the blazer at the Natural History Museum; we haven’t seen her wear the piece before this engagement.

The tailored jacket features two jetted slanted flap pockets, a slanted breast pocket, a notch lapel and three buttons along the front.  The added seams across the chest create a flattering, fitted silhouette.

Those hoping to buy the blazer will be disapointed. The piece is from a past season. The images shown here are from old listings on eBay and The RealReal.

Thanks to BritishRoyalFashion on Instagram and MiddletonMaven for sharing the jacket ID.

Kate layered the tweed blazer over a contrasting white shirt—this is another piece that’s ‘new to us’.

Town & Country report the Princess wears ‘The Boyfriend’ shirt by ‘With Nothing Underneath’ in the colour Off-White. 

The Boyfriend shirt is made in Portugal and features flattering pleats across the yoke. It’s crafted with a relaxed-yet-tailored silhouette, and has slightly dropped shoulders for effortless elegance.

It is made from Tencell Lyocell, which is crafted from responsibly sourced wood pulp fibres. The fabric is biodegradable and compostable at the end of the garment’s life cycle. 

WNO describe the shirt as having an “elegant, luxurious drape”.  It’s wrinkle-resistant and has a silky soft feel.

If you wish to buy the shirt, you’re in luck! It is available on the brand’s website for £140 GBP / $190 USD. 

We’ve never seen Kate wear this brand before (to my knowledge).

Let’s move on to Kate’s dark green tailored trousers now.  The ankle-length design hits the ankle and features a pleat down the front.  The designer remains a mystery at present. 

If you followed the blog in 2021, you might remember Kate wearing the Reiss ‘Ginnie’ trousers during a visit to Scotland? Do you think she’s wearing the same pair today, but altered? Maybe she’s had the turn-ups let down?  I haven’t had time to check closely.  Let me know if you think my theory is correct!

UPDATE: MiddletonMaven shares a second pair of Reiss trousers that are a good contender for an ID: the Gabi Slim Fit Trouser in Teal (shown below). I think they’re a great match. It wouldn’t suprise me to learn that she’s wearing the pair below. The colour looks like a close match to my eye.

Let’s move on to the Princess’s shoes now. She debuted a new (to us) pair of tan brown pointed loafers.

They’re from Pretty Ballerinas. The Princess wears the ‘Angelis’ loafer in ‘cognac’ suede.  The design features gold hardware and tassel detailing. 

Pretty Ballerinas are a blast from the past—I haven’t heard that name in relation to Kate for a few years (the Princess used to carry one of the company’s clutch bags in ~2012.  (Thanks to katemiddletonstyled on Instagram and MiddletonMaven for the ID).

I cannot find any information about buying the shoes. I assume they’re from an older season.  Similar styles are available on the Pretty Ballerinas website.

Let’s finish up with Kate’s jewellery.

First, she brought back her Kiki McDonough Pear Drop earrings in green amethyst and gold. 

The Princess debuted the earrings in 2023. This is the fourth time we have seen her wear them to date.

The gemstone earrings feature a pear drop green amethyst set in 18-carat yellow gold. They retail on the designer’s website for £850.

We know the Princess is a fan of these earrings—she owns them in two other colours. In fact, it’s fair to say she is loyal to Kiki McDonough—we’ve spotted her wearing 20 pairs of the jeweller’s colourful earrings since joining the Royal Family in 2011! 

Kate finished her outfit with two personalised necklaces by Daniella Draper.   Let’s start with this necklace:

It’s the designer’s Fixed Alphabet Necklace in Gold. It’s crafted from recycled 9ct yellow gold in England.

The fixed-letter design allows you to spell out names or initials—Kate famously layered hers with “G”, “C” and “L.”

The delicate 1.7 mm chain comes in three lengths: 15″, 17″ or 20″.

To order the 15” chain with three initials on Daniella Draper’s website, it’d cost £625.

The second necklace is the Trio Diamond Midnight Moon design.

This piece features a disc which Kate’s had hand-engraved with her children’s initials. The design is set with three petite sparkling diamonds. It’s also made from recycled 9ct yellow gold.

The piece retails at £1,300.