On the 18th of March 2017, William and Kate continued their two-day mini tour of Paris, France at the request of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
The timing is thought that have intentionally coincided Brexit negotiations. Some newspapers are calling the visit a “royal charm offensive”.
On the previous day, William and Kate carried out three separate engagements in the city. (You can find full details here).
The first engagement of the day took place at Les Invalides (also known as Hôtel des Invalides). The Hôtel des Invalides is a group of buildings containing museums and monuments relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and retirement home for war veterans.
It was originally created in 1670 by King Louis XIV to care for veterans and those injured whilst fighting for France. The following image shows the north front of the Invalides: Mansart’s dome above Bruant’s pedimented central block.
The Hôtel des Invalides is home to the Musée de l’Armée (the military museum of the Army of France), the Musée des Plans-Reliefs (a museum of military models), the Musée d’Histoire Contemporaine (a museum of contemporary history), and the Dôme des Invalides, a large church with the burial site for some of France’s war heroes, including Napoleon Bonaparte. During the visit, the couple met with veterans and heard more about the site’s important history.
They also met with French Invictus Games competitor, Sgt. Philippe at the onsite hospital.
Sgt. Philippe is being supported by the prosthetics team at the hospital.
During their visit, William and Kate met with Kevin and Jessica, two Parisians who were wounded during the recent terrorist attacks in France. Both have received vital treatment from the hospital at Les Invalides.
Next, the couple made their way over to the Musée d’Orsay.
The Musée d’Orsay is an art museum in Paris, on the left bank of the Seine. It’s housed in a former railway station that was built between 1898 and 1900. The photo below is via Wikipedia.
The museum holds mainly French art from the 1848 – 1914 and houses the largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces in the world (including pieces by Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Seurat, Sisley, Gauguin, and Van Gogh). The Musée d’Orsay is one of the largest art museums in Europe.
I am sure this visit was arranged especially for Kate, who is passionate about the arts. She studied the history of art at university and is Patron of the National Portrait Gallery and the Art Room charity.
William and Kate toured the Impressionist Gallery and learnt more about the artwork from the gallery’s curator. Later this year, some of the artwork will be exhibited at the Tate Britain in London.
Next, William and Kate attended an event titled “Les Voisins [The Neighbours] in Action”. The event highlighted and celebrated the strong ties between the young people of France and the UK.
The event took place at the Trocadéro gardens, which has scenic views of the Eiffel Tower.
During the visit, the Duke and Duchess chatted to young French rugby players from local schools.
They also met with British and French children from British Council programmes.
Kate’s outfit:
Kate chose a tweed coat by iconic French design house, Chanel. It featured a box pleated flared skirt and half-length flared sleeves.
As the following image shows, the tweed fabric is woven from multicoloured threads.
It appears that Kate is wearing a bespoke design based on this piece from Chanel’s pre-spring 2017 ready-to-wear collection. (Hat tip to Michelle from Perth Fashion for the info).
According to Chanel’s website, the RRP for the original coat is £8,380 (that’s around $10,350 USD).
Kate accessorised her coat with a black leather Chanel belt. As you can see, it features Chanel’s famous logo.
The belt is made from calfskin and gold metal. Its RRP is £710 (around $880 USD). Again, a big thank you to Michelle for finding this so quickly.
Kate also carried a Chanel bag during her day in Paris (which delighted many fashionistas!). Elizabeth from Kate’s Closet quickly identified the bag.
It’s the brand’s Calfskin Bag with Enamel Handle. The burgundy quilted bag is from Chanel’s Fall-Winter 2015-16 collection.
According to LoveThatBag.ca, the bag originally retailed for $6,225 in 2015. As that’s a Canadian site, I’ll assume the price is in Canadian Dollars. In US Dollars, that’s around $4,664 and in GBP that’s around £3,762.
Kate’s shoes ought to feel familiar to our regular readers. They’re Tod’s Fringed Leather Pumps in eggplant/cherry.
Kate first debuted them in Canada in September 2016.
The block-heeled shoes are trimmed with fringe detailing on the front and finished with a gold buckle. They retailed at Net-A-Porter for £216 (around $268). The shoes were from Tod’s 2015 collection and the company no longer sells the style. However, you can still purchase a similar pair from Net-A-Porter in tan brown.
Alternatively, try this affordable “repliKate” for just £29! They’re the Nine West Umbriah3 style, available from Debenhams.com and Shoeaholics.com.
During today’s visit to Paris, Kate debuted a new earring and necklace set by luxury French jewellers, Cartier.
My friend Anna quickly identified the pendant and earrings set. They’re from the company’s Trinity collection. The pair pictured below are very similar. (It appears Kate’s set doesn’t have the diamond).
The earrings and necklace are made from white gold, yellow gold and pink gold. The three bands symbolise love, fidelity and friendship. The necklace retails for $1,890 USD (around £1,524 GBP) while the earring set costs $2,040 (around £1,645 GBP).
Speaking of Cartier, Kate also wore the company’s 33mm Ballon Bleu watch for the day’s engagements. Kate has worn the watch on numerous occasions over the last few years.
Click here for all our Paris coverage.
I think the Duchess has done well this trip.
Big improvement on her pieces and accessories.
The Chanel coat looks nice on her, but I just loved the green coat on the first day, beautiful the color was lovely on her
Her hair I feel still could do with the WOW factor especially in the Jenny Packham a lovely up do with an accessory in her hair would have nailed the look.
Her makeup looks softer and love the rich color of her hair, much nicer.
Well done