Thursday, 18th of March 2021—The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited Newham Ambulance Station in East London. The royal couple spent time with ambulance staff and paramedic, listening to their experiences of working during the pandemic.
William and Kate heard how the first responders have coped with their mental health during the Coronavirus crisis and took a look around the station’s Wellbeing garden.
The couple also surprised one paramedic’s family in the UK and Bangladesh with a video call:
During a visit to Newham ambulance station in east London, Their Royal Highnesses met crews who have responded throughout the pandemic as well as ambulance staff who have supported their colleagues’ mental health and welfare as our Service faced one of the most challenging periods in our history.
In the first days of the new year, our 999 call handlers were answering in excess of 8,000 calls a day – compared to around 5,500 calls on a ‘normal’ very busy winter day – while 111 health advisers were dealing with twice as many calls as usual.
londonambulance.nhs.uk
Video footage from the visit:
Kate’s outfit:
Kate sported tan tones from top-to-toe. She brought back her long Massimo Dutti coat (she first wore the piece last year, to launch her ‘5 Big Questions’ project).
The fully-lined wool and cashmere coat has a slim-fit silhouette and features peak lapels, a double-breasted button fastening, two flap pockets, long sleeves, button detailing on the cuffs and a back vent. The piece retailed for £349 GBP. Sadly, it is no longer available for purchase. If you’re looking for something similar, here are a few good options: La Redoute (£155), Sandro (£335), Joseph (£696) and Ted Baker ($575).
Kate’s tan suede bag is from Métier (£1,080), a London-based brand. The style name is Mini Roma and the colour name is Marakesh. It is also available at Nordstrom ($1,380) and Matches ($1,170). The piece features a front flap, a chain handle, a detachable shoulder strap and gold hardware. It is lined with black leather.
Inside, you’ll find three useful interior compartments and plenty of spaces to slot cards. Métier bags are known for being hard-working and useful without looking nerdy, according to Vogue. We first spotted the Duchess carrying the piece in December 2020. This is the second public engagement she’s used the bag for.
Underneath, it looks like Kate’s wearing the Reiss Sophie Knitted Roll Neck Top (£95 / $180). Thank you to Middleton Maven for sharing this potential identification on Twitter.
Reiss describe the sweater as a “smart-casual style that work both in the office and at the weekend”. The piece features a roll neck, long sleeves and a slim fit silhouette. It’s constructed from a wool-mix knitted fabric.
Reiss also sell the roll neck top in blue, cream and black.
Onto Kate’s jewellery. The Duchess accessorised with her Kiki McDonough Citrine earrings (apologies for the poor quality picture below, but I have seen them in high-res photos shared in newspapers, which I cannot licence for this blog). The pear-drop earrings feature a yellow citrine stone set in 18ct yellow gold. Kiki McDonough describes them as a “simple and extremely wearable style”. You can still purchase the earrings from kiki.co.uk for £550.
Over on Twitter, British Royal Fashion Data notes that Kate has worn the Citrine earrings 39 times in total (during “official” engagements since 2009, she might have worn them in private of course!) Also, this is the first time in nearly 15 months that Kate’s worn any Kiki McDonough at all! She last wore earrings by the designer in December 2019.
Kate sported new footwear (new to us, at least) during her visit to the Ambulance station. She donned a pair of dark tan suede heels (again, apologies for the low-quality photo). Regal Fille tweeted a possible identification: She believes they’re the Romy 85 style by Jimmy Choo. This looks like a good possibility.
Finally, Kate’s mask is from Amaia Kids. It’s the ‘yellow pepper’ Liberty print style. The Duchess owns this mask in a number of different colours.
