The Duchess of Cambridge made an unannounced trip to King’s College Hospital in Denmark Hill to meet and visit the staff who treated victims of the recent terror attack in London. The hospital cared for 14 victims, most of whom were suffering from stab wounds and some of whom are still receiving round-the-clock care.
In comments made to reporters, staff noted that while they are used to dealing with stabbings and emergency situations, this particular attack – from the number of women to the sheer volume of people coming through in critical condition – had a profound impact. True to form and on-message for Heads Together, Kate inquired whether workers had sufficient emotional support to process the high-stress situation.
I was pleased to see Kate make this stop, in part because it’s been a few weeks since we’ve seen her and also because the Queen, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry have all made similar visits to hospitals in the wake of the recent terror attacks and it’s fitting that, as another senior royal, Kate joined them. Not only is it a kind gesture to the staff themselves – and the patients receiving treatment – but it’s a nice way to highlight the work of first responders in situations such as these. (Though, it goes without saying that there have been far too many “situations such as these” lately and what’s been happening in England over the last few months has been horrifying to watch.)
On a completely different – and lighter – note, I’ve seen in a few different places speculation that Kate might be pregnant. I’m not sure why exactly, except that there have been some winks and nudges over today’s photos and speculation as to her absence since the Chelsea Flower Show. And, I mean, she might be, but I’m not getting a “pregnant” vibe from these photos and I’m wholly uninterested in analyzing this poor woman’s body to death.
As for her absence – the thing is, we’ve now gone through two pregnancies with the Cambridges and they followed the same template each time. An early announcement because of HG and then mass cancelling of already-scheduled engagements. With the Germany and Poland trip on the books for several months now, my guess is that’s still moving forward and there wouldn’t have been enough time between Pippa’s wedding and today for a miraculous recovery.
As for her ensemble – this is Kate’s tried and true blue tweed suit by Rebecca Taylor. She’s worn it on a number of occasions over the years (it might be her most-worn professional outfit now that I think about it). However, it shouldn’t be confused with the blue tweed Rebecca Taylor suit she wore earlier this year at a different engagement – that one of course is completely different. (It is not. They are basically the same.) Anyway, this one is perfectly lovely, but I prefer the other one. I don’t have much to say about it. It felt like a perfectly perfunctory and respectful outfit to wear to the occasion and there you go.
We’ll next see Kate on Friday where I can only imagine there will even more baby speculation(!)