Today, the Duchess of Cambridge accompanied the Queen and other members of the Royal Family, including Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie and the Countess of Wessex, to the Chelsea Flower Show.
As some background, the show is organized by the Royal Horticultural Society, which was founded in 1804 during the reign of King George III. It’s grown to be quite a popular event in London, so much so that back in 1988 a cap of 157,000 people was placed to limit traffic to the site grounds.
While there’s been speculation as to when and if Kate would start attending the show as far back as 2011, last year was the first year she popped by. She wore a bright green Catherine Walker coat dress that I detest on any occasion, but particularly loathed at the flower show because it just seemed so wrong. A coat in late May? (I know, I know, London weather, but still!) The restrictive collar and zipper? If ever there was an occasion for a floral print, Kate!
Looks like she got the memo this year because today she turned up in a brand new (at least to us) green floral dress by Rochas. I LOVE IT. It’s been such a long time since I’ve been able to say that about one of Kate’s get ups. Paris maybe? Maybe.
Anyway, I thought she looked great. The emerald earrings were a nice touch and I liked that she pulled her hair back – the ponytail is a nice shake up from the two options we’ve been seeing recently: down or in an elaborate up-do.
I’m also impressed that she looks so fresh today given that rumor has it Pippa’s reception went on until 4 am Sunday morning. I honestly feel a tad hungover just hearing about it.
Getting back to the flower show (if we must), apparently Kate was shown a rose named after her and William in honor of the royal wedding back in 2012. Last year, when she attended with William, they were similarly shown a flower named in honor of Princess Charlotte. I mean, if there was a chance flowers were going to be named after me, I guess I’d be kind of into the show, too.
As it is, my interest pretty much begins and ends with the fact that I like Kate’s dress, but if flowers are your thing then definitely check out the Daily Mail article, which has a bunch of images.
In other Kate news, today it was revealed that earlier this year, in her capacity as patron of EACH, the Duchess participated in the filming of a brief video. She can be seen speaking about the importance of these facilities in the clip below and, based on her Hobbs ensemble, the footage seems to have been captured the same day as her January 24 engagement in Norfolk.
As of right now, there’s nothing else on Kate’s plate for the near future. It’s unusual for an engagement to be announced the same week that it’s carried out so unless Kate makes a surprise appearance somewhere, it’s unlikely we’ll see her again this week. The next thing firmly on the horizon (as far as I know) is the Trooping of the Colour on June 17, however it’s almost certain she’ll be involved in the state visit from King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain June 12-14. For that matter, it’s also almost certain we’ll see her before then – will keep you posted!