Kate Middleton appeared delighted to be on duty with Prince William as
they undertook their first engagement of 2022 during a visit to the Foundling
Museum in London this morning.
The Duchess of Cambridge, 40, beamed as she arrived for her first
in-person event of the year at the museum, which tells the history of the
Foundling Hospital, the UK’s first children’s charity which was founded in 1739
as a home for children whose mothers couldn’t keep or care for them.
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| The Duke and Duchess participated in a therapy session with individuals who have experienced the care system, during a visit to the Foundling Museum |
The mother-of-three, who has been the patron of the museum since 2019,
offered a lesson in business chic as she stepped out for the event this
morning, donning a black polo neck and recycling a long-line navy coat and her
favourite pair of £130 Jigsaw trousers.
While the Duchess has worn the coat in the past, the brand has never
been identified. The royal, who wore her brown locks down in a loose curly blow
dry, added a touch of glam to her outfit with a dazzling pair of £7 earrings
from Accessorize.
The couple could be seen donning face masks as they walked inside the
building in accordance with the museum’s policy, which asks those visiting to
wear a face covering.
The Duke and Duchess listened to the stories of those who have experienced
life in care today, but William could not avoid the drama of his own
family as a TV crew asked him ‘do you support Prince Andrew?’ as the couple
left the museum.
The natural beauty kept her makeup to a minimum, with just a touch of
blusher, nude-coloured lip and light layering of mascara. The Duchess opted for
her favourite pair of wide-legged trousers for the occasion, which she has worn
on multiple occasions over the past year.
Kate, who is known for mixing high-end designers with high street
steals, also donned a trendy set of gold hoops from the cut-price store
Accessorize.
Online, the earrings, which are part of a 3-for-2 offer and have
recently been slashed in price to just £2, are described as ‘the perfect
pairing to give your daytime look some chic appeal.’
Taking their seats, Kate asked the experts: ‘From your experience what
makes the difference between a young person succeeding after leaving foster
care and when they do not.’ They heard about ‘challenges for young people when
they regularly move home and are sometimes exploited by the criminal world.
William added: ‘If you keep moving a child around when they are an adult
their relationships are so short and shallow.’
Kate said she was concerned that without providing stable homes for
children they risk being moved around and having to ‘tell their story again and
again.’
William said: ‘That may become emotionally exhausting to tell the story
again and again. We’ve had that in the mental health side of things, people end
up on the street, go through hoops and hurdles, tell so many people in
authority and nothing changes. You have to get to them a lot earlier so they
don’t have to keep doing this. The couple were said they also worried about the
‘consistency in care:’
Kate – who scored a master of arts degree in art history at St Andrew’s
University – laughed out as she struggled with the artwork which had the look
of a vast doodle when it was finished.
William also laughed and said: ‘I enjoyed it. The kids would really
enjoy that.’ Viewing their masterpiece, he added: ‘That’s beautiful.’
Athlete Kris Akabusi said afterward: ‘It is great to have so many vital
resources for young people. As a young person in care, to know people at the
top are interested in your story and growth as an adult is very encouraging. Hopefully, they are not forgotten. Young people who were in care are over-represented in
gangs, sex industry and crime, I hope society has not forgotten them as these
children are in care through no fault of their own, so it is great to have this
infrastructure.’
The Museum delivers training, mentorship programmes and creative
projects, led and developed by contemporary artists, writers and musicians, to
continue to use creative activities to transform and improve the lives of
care-experienced young people.
The Tracing Our Tales is described as a unique programme that has been
developed to equip care-experienced young adults from London boroughs with the
skills to devise and deliver workshops at the Museum for family groups.
The programme provides paid employment and valuable life skills,
including public speaking, critical and creative thinking, and people
management, as well as skills in art and creative expression.
The visit comes after a former staffer said the Royal Family is
desperate for ‘conventional performers’ as it faces a difficult year and Kate
is ‘what these troubled times need’.
