For her last outing before her maternity leave, Kate Middleton had a causal Friday-on-a Thursday, dressing up in skinny jeans, a non-maternity Hobbs top, Goat coat, and heels.
Middleton is due in April, and if this maternity leave is anything like the one she took with Princess Charlotte, she'll likely return to royal engagements in early fall. After Charlotte, who was born on May 2, 2015, Middleton returned to royal engagements on September 17. And Middleton is guaranteed to be at the May 19 royal wedding, so we're sure to see her relatively soon.
Today, Middleton and Prince William met wheelchair basketball players in Birmingham. They had a cute coupley moment when Middleton reached down to touch William in the chair. PDA is rarer with these two than with dedicated royal hand-holders Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. But this is Middleton's last day working for a bit so she let loose. She was particularly gleeful in the kitchen of St Luke's Community Centre, where she helped with lunch prep.
Middleton has been on a work roll this week, dressing more formally for the Royal Society of Medicine's early intervention for children and families symposium yesterday. She wore a pastel green Jenny Packham coat.
The Duchess of Cambridge also gave a rare speech there, where she advocated for teens to get parenting classes in school:
"I really do feel so passionately about the importance of early intervention, and that by working on new approaches together, we can make a real difference for generations to come… We need mental health support in primary schools before the biological changes and academic pressures of adolescence kick in. We also need a focus on parenting and family support, so that parents feel able to get their children 'school ready,' and are confident that they themselves can cope with the mental and emotional needs of their own children. We need to highlight how important it is to support mothers too, potentially even before they give birth. They need to be aware how vulnerable they might be and, critically, know where they can find help for themselves, as well as for their babies and toddlers. But potentially we could start looking even earlier, by teaching parenting and relationship skills to teenagers, to get the next generation of parents child-ready, well before they have to put these skills into practice."
While Middleton was dressy Wednesday and casual Thursday, jeans aren't entirely a blue-moon wardrobe choice. Middleton has worn them for occasional outdoorsy events:
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she's not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.
