The Prince and Princess of Wales returned to royal duties this afternoon 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. (Full outfit details further down this page.).
Although the weather was glum, Kate’s new hairdo brought a bit of summer cheer to an otherwise grey afternoon—the Princess sported lusciously long curls in a golden brown colour. We’re used to seeing the Princess with chestnut brown hair—the transformation became quite newsworthy in itself!
The couple spent time looking around the museum’s newly transformed gardens.
The pair also met children and young people during the visit, and took part in a few of the educational activities on offer.
Each activity had a nature theme, designed to encourage biodiversity in urban areas.
While outside during one particularly torrential downpour, the Princess held her umbrella over the children and said, “let’s take them inside, it’s pouring”.
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).
In the twelve months the gardens have been open, the Natural History Museum have welcomed welcomed more than five million visitors.
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.
Here’s a look at Kate’s outfit today, and a run-through of everything she wore:
Kate’s outfit:
As the Princess returned to work following the summer break, her outfit said “business as usual”.
By that, I mean it was the sort of ‘uniform’ we’ve come to expect for such engagements—a functional but unremarkable outdoorsy look in earthy, neutral tones.
Don’t get me wrong, I like the outfit (I particularly love the shirt —I think it elevates the whole look) but we’ve seen several iterations of this look before, often during nature-themed engagements.
It’s smart and she looks Princess perfect as per usual—but I think we can agree that it’s not attention-grabbing or fashion forward.
(Especially if you compare her outfit from the 2021 visit to today’s look).
I think Today’s outfit fits with the messaging put out from the palace earlier this year, that Kate wants us to focus on her work and not her appearance.
I do wonder if the earthy, dark colours fit in with this messaging—remember when Kate went through a phase of wearing brown and black almost exclusively earlier this year? For a while, fashion writers wondered if it was deliberate; if she was eschewing colour as a statement.
Luckily, we were spoiled with a lot of colour and lighter, brighter shades over the summer months for Trooping the Colour, the garden party, the State Banquet and Wimbledon.
She’s also worn a lot of green in recent years, it’s a colour that Kate’s known for wearing anyway (it is her favourite colour, after all!). It is a natural choice for nature-related engagements, plus moss and olive are both trending this year. (I went shopping earlier today and noticed them everywhere.)
Let’s look at each piece in turn now.
Today, Kate debuted a green striped tweed blazer by Ralph Lauren. (ID: BritishRoyalFashion on Instagram, shared by MiddletonMaven on X)
The tailored jacket features two jetted slanted flap pockets, a breast pocket, a notch lapel and three buttons along the front. The added seams gives the jacket its flattering, fitted silhouette.
The piece is from a past season; the image shown above is from an old eBay listing, unfortunately.
Kate paired the tweed blazer with a contrasting white shirt. Town & Country report that Kate’s shirt is from the sustainable British brand, ‘With Nothing Underneath’. Specifically, she wears ‘The Boyfriend’ shirt in Off-White.
The crisp white button‑down is made from a 100% TENCEL LYOCELL. Tencel Lyocell fibres are made from wood, which is sourced from responsibly managed forests. The fabric breaks down and composts at the end of the garment’s life cycle.
WNO describe the shirt as having an “elegant, luxurious drape”.
The Boyfriend shirt is made in Portugal and features pleats across the yoke. RRP £120 / $180. It also comes in different colours and patterns.
Let’s move on to Kate’s dark green tailored trousers now. The ankle-length pair feature pleats down the front. The designer remains a mystery at present.
If you followed the blog in 2021, you might remember the Reiss ‘Ginnie’ trousers? Do you think this is the same pair, with the turn-ups removed? I haven’t had time to check closely. But let me know if you think my theory is correct!
The Princess debuted a new pair shoes today—a pair of tan brown suede loafers from Pretty Ballerinas.
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).
The Princess wears the ‘Angelis’ loafter in a rich ‘cognac’ tone. The design features gold hardware, a pointed toe and tassel detailing.
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 a personalised necklace featuring the initials of her three children, G, C and L. The piece is by Daniella Draper and is made from recycled gold. (Shown below on a previous occasion).
To order the 15” chain with three initials on Daniella Draper’s website, it’d cost £625.
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