Kate was in Catherine Walker for today’s parade and shamrock ceremony with the Irish Guards.
Prince William is Colonel of the Irish Guards.
Here is a quick greeting from the Guards just before things got underway this morning. The guest star in the video is Domhnall, the Guards mascot. We’ll see him again in a moment.
William and Kate on the reviewing stand.
The event was at the Guards’ barracks in west London.
It was a gusty, blustery day with cold temps.
Prince William taking the salute.
At the end of the parade, three cheers for TRH.
Then it was time to start giving out the shamrocks.
Below, Kate is given the baskets filled with them.
And starts the ritual of handing them out.
There were 350 soldiers on the Parade Square for today’s events.
The audio in this short piece gives you a sense of how windy it was for the event.
Here you see the mascot with his handler, Drummer Aidan Cathcart.
From a daily Mail story:
Earlier, Domhnall’s handler, Drummer Aidan Cathcart, jokingly expressed reservations that his charge would behave.
He said: “Domhnall’s role is very monumental – he is the first person on the parade. He is the main person on the march, it’s a pretty crucial day for him.”
Asked if he was confident Domhnall would do as planned, he replied, bluntly: “No.”
This is the sixth year the wolfhound has taken part in the ceremony. He arrived for training as a 5-month-old in January 2013. (More on that topic in this post.)
The Duchess as she hands out the shamrocks.
There were multiple reports this was the first time there was snow at the barracks on Saint Patrick’s Day.
The annual group photo.
A different view with the crucial players in different positions.
Despite the nippy temps everyone seemed to take pleasure in the parade and shamrock ceremony.
Then it was time for the Guardsman’s lunch.
The lunch is inside the barracks where there was a cheer for Their Royal Highnesses.
More about the toast from the Belfast Telegraph’s story:
The longest-serving guardsman of the battalion, Stephen Williams declared a toast to the Duke and Duchess for a second year in a row at the mess hall and thanked the Duchess for the shamrocks.
The 30-year-old told the Press Association: “I thought it went well, I was very pleased to do it on behalf on the battalion.
“They said they recognised me from last year which is a good thing. I’ve been here for 10 years so the most senior person does it every year.
The soldier added that “They said they felt the cold and felt sorry for us.”
It looks like William was partaking of the standard Guinness while the Duchess had sparkling water with lemon.
The Belfast Telegraph also reports that Kate and William stayed and “…chatted to the troops, some of whom gleefully took selfies with the couple in the background.”
Now for what Kate wore, starting with her Catherine Walker coat.
We first saw the Duchess wearing the garment in Stockholm at the end of January. UPDATE: See note below relating to collar and cuffs, which are part of the coat, not separate or detachable items as initially thought and reported.
We have a idea of the Tiara to Beth who left a comment on the January post about the coat predicting Kate would wear this coat for St. Patrick’s Day.
And a idea also goes to Brooke, who commented saying she thought Kate would wear this coat.
And also to Betty Wales, she nailed it as well!
Kate’s hat is a piece we have also seen before; it is Gina Foster’s Meribel Felt Beret Hat with Bow (£535), described as a “Classic velour felt beret hat with stylised felt bow trim.’ The hat is secured on the head with an elastic band that sits under the hair. (Another good prediction came from Beth last on Twitter; she thought this is the hat Kate would wear.)
We have an interesting sidebar to share, thanks to Michelle of Perth’s Fashion. She pointed out that the Meribel and several other hat styles Kate has worn are available to rent from a company called Abi Gurney Hat Hire.
We saw Kate bring back her oft-worn Tod’s suede pumps.
And her Cornelia James Imogen gloves ($98) in pure merino wool from Australia.
UPDATE March 19: lots of thanks to Sarah for her comment suggesting Kate wore the Alice gloves; I heard back from Cornelia James this morning and they believe Kate is wearing their Alice style. This style has velvet fourchettes, the piece of fabric between the top and bottom layer of each finger. (That’s not a terrific description, so I have added a little graphic with a digitally treated photo of the gloves.)
Many recognized the faux fur cuffs ($60) and matching collar ($95) by Troy London that Kate used again today. UPDATE MAR 21: The Troy London accessories were not used today. The faux collar and cuffs are part of the Catherine Walker coat, they are not separate pieces. I have deleted the photo of the Troy accessories to try and minimize future confusion. There is a lot more in this post, but briefly, the info came to us from Troy London in January when the coat was first worn that the Duchess was also using the collar/cuffs. It turns out not to be the case, the collar and cuffs are not detachable, but part of the coat.
Kate wore Kiki McDonough earrings initially worn in India and then again in Sweden. They are a special edition made of green tourmalines, green amethysts and diamonds. The daily Mail’s Rebecca English spoke with the jeweler; they are said to have been made especially for Kate to celebrate Princess Charlotte’s birth.
The Duchess also wore the Shamrock brooch, owned by the Guards and loaned to various royals for occasions like today’s. previously it has been worn by the Queen mother and Princess Anne. because I wasn’t able to find a really good close-up of it, I included a better shot from a previous wearing, the 2016 garden party in Northern Ireland.
Kate wore her hair up.
Here we see the style from several angles.
Another view of the Duchess today.
A look at Kate’s St. Patrick’s style over the years.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
We have a couple of quick items, the first is for all of our Canadian friends: “The Coronation” documentary that generated so much buzz in January is going to run on the CBC News Network tonight and tomorrow night (Sunday) at 10pm.
It will air again for one night only on March 26th on the regular CBC network. a lot more info here on the CBC’s ‘Passionate Eye’ page. (You may see a video player on the page, to the best of my knowledge you cannot watch the show that way.)
For US viewers the Smithsonian channel will be airing the broadcast again on the March 27th (1 pm) and April 1st (2 am). Click here for a lot more info.
Also, Kate has two engagements next week that weren’t on the calendar when we did our most recent post. We have details on the Kate’s Calendar page.
We’ll leave you with this NBC story about the day’s events.
LINKAGE:
The Mirror’s coverage is here; The daily Mail’s story is here; The Telegraph’s post is here; The express photo gallery is here; The Belfast Telegraph report is here
PopSugar’s gallery is here; the Fug Girls Slideshow and commentary may be seen here
899Save