The Duchess of Cambridge returned to work from the holiday break today with a visit to King Henry’s Walk Garden in Islington. The engagement wrapped up many of her favorite things – nature, children and physical activity.
From the Daily Mail:
During her visit Kate was accompanied by Andrée Davies, 55, and Adam White, 45, the landscape architects that she is currently collaborating with on the RHS’s official garden at the Chelsea Flower Show this year.
They revealed afterwards that they had been secretly working with the duchess for three months, emailing and speaking almost every day. They said the project to create the woodland-themed garden was a ‘passion’ for Kate, who had been ‘incredibly hands-on’ in terms on inspiration and practical ideas for the garden.
Mr White revealed that he and his design partner had previously collaborated on a number of projects for children but had been ‘blown away’ when they received a call asking them to work with the duchess on a Chelsea garden for the first time.
‘To us this very much about childhood memories We all spoke about our childhood memories, being outdoors and exploring nature. She was very open and has been hugely collaborative,’ he said.
‘This is very much about the three of us, as co-designers.’ Miss Davies continued: ‘It’s very relevant. There is so much research around at the moment that shows being outdoors with nature is good for your mental health and that is a big part of the duchess’s public work. We were all on the same page to start with, we have been getting together on a regular basis. She is very hands on, model making, emailing images, coming up with all the ideas that we want to capture. She would often bring a folder of cuttings with her full of ideas.
‘The duchess was very keen to use natural materials, has a clear idea of the colour palate she wants and her desire to incorporate the natural elements. ‘ Mr White revealed that after the show Kate will be working with them on a garden at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, a permanent garden at RHS Wisley in Surrey and an as yet unnamed NHS garden.
While making pizza and birdhouses with children, Kate mentioned in asides that Prince George and Princess Charlotte would be very jealous with how she spent her day, noting that George was currently learning about space in school. And for those keeping track of their Kate fun facts, she also revealed that she prefers bacon on her pizza instead of pepperoni as it’s less spicy.
Kate was dressed casually today in a new jacket by Irish brand Durbarry, skinny jeans and a pair of boots by See by Chloe. I’m a fan of the jacket and boots, but I would probably have opted for a different color jean to break things up a bit.
We’ll next see Kate tomorrow when she visits the Royal Opera House, so see you then 🙂