The Duchess of Cambridge turned up unexpectedly at the Head Start Learning conference today held by the Anna Freud Centre for Children and Familes (AFCCF). Kate has been patron of the centre for a few years now and it aligns nicely with her focus on early intervention and childhood development. Reportedly, the visit wasn’t announced so that Kate could eschew media attention to focus on the conference itself, which included myriad speakers and presentations.
News of her presence came only after her arrival when AFCCF tweeted out they were happy to have her there. It was followed up with tweets from Kensington Palace later in the evening:
During the conference HRH heard key note speakers from the field of
resilience research and met with young people and staff leading the ground-breaking HeadStart programme which focuses on building mental health and resilience in children and young people across the country. pic.twitter.com/pMvQkpdehQ— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) January 11, 2018
Obviously the vast majority of Kate’s engagements are pre-announced and include media and photographers, while in the past “surprise” visits have been due to security or other publicity concerns. There has, however, been a growing trend of showing some of the behind-the-scenes work that the Royal Family does, including meetings and lower-profile events. I feel like today falls somewhere in this grey area and I’m actually a fan of it. There is more hands-on work that the royals do and I think it’s good for the public to get a peek behind the curtain, so to speak. Kate wanted to be able to focus without worrying about being photographed from every angle, but it’s still an event worth highlighting and shows substantive work.
Kate is wearing a grey sparkly jacket from the American label Tory Burch. She first debuted it in December 2014 when she was in New York City (and pregnant with Princess Charlotte). At the time she styled it with a black turtleneck, black skinny jeans and heels. It appears today was similar, but she reportedly (thank you, Twitter) opted for boots over heels.
I like this coat – it’s very festive and wintry, while still appearing polished and professional. In that sense, it actually reminds me of the sparkly purple Séraphine coat that she recycled last month. So, let’s call it a win, shall we?
As mentioned yesterday, barring any more surprises we are next due to see Kate with the Duke of Cambridge in Coventry on Tuesday. These engagements, combined with others on the books for the 17th and the upcoming tour, indicate that KP is certainly scheduling a busier January for the Duchess than usual!
Cool! I like that this wasn’t announced, and wasn’t meant to be an ‘engagement’ in the sense that her usual interactions with events are more about her shining a light on things that exist, rather than participating in a learning capacity. This feels like something she did to be more informed and prepared doing her job, like everyone else at the seminars. Nice move.