Kate Pays Private Visit To Addiction Clinic, First Portrait Of Kate Commissioned, and More

It has been revealed Duchess Kate spent several hours speaking with recovering drug addicts and alcoholics yesterday. As Prince William was briefed in the Falklands, Kate busied herself by paying a private visit to one of her new charities Action On Addiction. St James' Palace said the visit was unannounced as the Duchess wants to gain further insight into the charity's work before carrying out her first public engagement on their behalf, visitng alcohol free bar ,The Brink on Valentine's Day.

Clouds House

Kate spent yesterday at treatment clinic, Clouds House in Salisbury. She met people being treated for various forms of addiction. Clouds House has been helping people overcome addiction for over 25 years and the Duchess was keen to meet staff. A spokesperson from the palace said

"The Duchess will continue to use her time to get to know people at the charity. You can't learn everything there is to know in one day, you have to keep going back to gain an in depth understanding"

The Gardens At Clouds House

Action on Addiction certainly sounds like a challenging patronage with many aspects to consider. The fact that Kate has already paid a private visit before her public engagement shows great caring and interest in the charity. I think she is going to do wonderful work in the months to come.

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As patron of the National Portrait Gallery, It would only be fitting for the Duchess to have a portrait painted in her honour. To celebrate her 30th birthday it is thought Kate will sit for the painting shortly. Clarence House revealed

"The commissioning of the Duchess of Cambridge's first official portrait is currently under way through the National Portrait Gallery".

The Queen has set for 145 portraits. The first portrait of Duchess Kate will of course be a historic piece. I'm very excited to see it. I imagine Kate will have her hair down, Perhaps wearing jewels from the royal collection?

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The Duchess graces the cover of Hello (again :)) this week.

Recent favourites of mine featuring cover girl Kate.

Hope you all have a great weekend, Perhaps we'll have a Kate sighting? :)

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Sources (Art Info, Royalty, Grazia, Hello, Clouds house, Daily Mail)

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Diana's words for William and Kate

It may be over thirteen years since Diana, Princess of Wales tragically died in a car accident in Paris, however the people's princess is still heavily featured in the press. Keith Allen's documentary 'Unlawful Killing' which premieres in Cannes this week puts forth the idea that "dark forces" were involved in a cover-up relating to the death of the Princess of Wales, her lover Dodi Fayed and driver Henri. The controversial documentary which reportedly includes a photo of  Diana dying has been described as 'disgusting.' As William and Kate settle into their two week honeymoon, they will be glad to escape the coverage of this. When the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge announced their engagement in November, 2010 it was clear Diana would feature in their wedding, despite not being present. William proposed to Kate with  his mother's engagement ring, a blue sapphire with diamonds. 'It's my mother's engagement ring so I thought it was quite nice because obviously she's not going to be around to share any of the fun and excitement of it all - this was my way of keeping her close to it all.' Diana was a fantastic mother who shared a very special bond with her sons.

 In November 1995, Princess Diana gave an extraordinarily frank interview with the BBC's Martin Bashir. She spoke candidly about her husband's adultery, suffering from bulimia, and of her extreme feelings of loneliness leading to self harm. Her decision to partake in this interview was seen as a declaration of war by the palace. Diana spoke of going to William's school and explaining her separation from his father, Prince Charles. 'There were three people in the marriage'. She continues to offer William invaluable advice on love 'I put it to William, that, if you find someone you love in life you must hang onto it and look after it, and if you were lucky enough to find someone who loved you then one must protect it.' William obviously remembered his mother's words when deciding to propose to Kate Middleton.

 When Charles and Diana divorced, she was stripped of her royal status. William, at fourteen, being fiercely protective of his mother promised to reinstate her status. 'Don't worry Mummy, I will give it back to you one day, when I am King.' Kate has said she would have loved to have met her 'She's obviously an inspirational woman to look up to.'

See Diana's words for William and Kate at 3.40

                                               

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How The 'Kate Effect' Could Save Label Jesiré

When it was announced Wednesday night that Kate's beautiful 1950s grey dress coat was by high street brand Jesiré, myself and every other Kate fan began to search the net to see if we could find one. Not only could we not find the exact piece, we could not find Jesiré! We were all quite disappointed to hear the firm had ceased trading in August after thirteen years in business.

Naturally countless numbers of 'Repli-Kates' bombarded former managing director of Jesiré, Martyn Vines with emails. Describing hearing the news about Kate wearing the £120 dress coat Mr Vines said

"I had a text first thing in the morning from my colleague Kelly Bird saying 'Oh my god, Kate Middleton is wearing Jesire'. I picked up the paper and there she was, she looked absolutely stunning. I felt very proud but also a tinge of sadness. To say we have been inundates with enquiries since is an understatement".

Mr Vines is obviously not going to let this opportunity slip by, He is introducing a new label to continue on from Jesire, I expect a certain grey dress coat will be included in the first collection. It will be designed by Berlin designer Kilian Kerner and will hit UK department stores this Autumn/Winter. 'The Kate' Effect' has become such a powerful force  all Kate has to do is wear one piece and it has literally saved a business. This is fantastic news for Jesiré and fans of Kate's style. Wishing Mr Vines and Kilian huge success with their new label. Kate undoubtedly knows the impact her style choices have in terms of sales, Perhaps she considered this factor when choosing what to wear for her first solo engagement?

If you simply cannot wait until the 'New Jesiré' launch, There are a couple of copies of Kate's dress coat for sale on ebay. (With many thanks to Anne Marie) It is rather amazing how less striking the piece is without Kate wearing it, perhaps she has tailoring work done on her pieces? The bidding for the coat below begins at £150 and will obviously fetch a much higher price than the original £120 it was retailing for in 2010. If any of you wish to bid Click Here for more details and best of luck!

Source (Daily Express, Daily Mail, What Kate Wore Facebook, Ebay)

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Duchess Kate Wears Erdem for Trooping the Colour

Duchess Kate joined the royal family today for Trooping the Colour. The annual parade officially celebrates the Queen's birthday. Although the Queen's actual birthday is on 21 April, it has long been tradition to celebrate the Sovereigns' birthday publicly on a day in the summer. 

Kate travelled by carriage with Camilla and Prince Harry in an open landau. Camilla and Kate look very coordinated. 

British Monarchy Flickr

More than 1,600 officers and soldiers took part in the event. Prince William, who is colonel of the Irish Guards, the Prince of Wales who is colonel of the Welsh Guards, the Duke of Kent, colonel of the Scot Guards and the Princess Royal, Colonel of the Blues and Royals.

The British Monarchy Flickr

Ace Royal photographer Mark Stewart shared a photo via Twitter of Buckingham Palace looking wonderful in the sunshine this morning.

Mark Stewart Twitter

 Her Majesty is wearing the same Angela Kelly outfit she wore to William and Kate's wedding. Prince Philip was also in attendance, it is exactly a week since he left hospital. Good to see him back.

The British Monarchy Flickr

This year is the flag of 1st Batallion Coldsream Guards. There were 241 horses on parade, with 290 musicians who marched and played on. A look at the Regiment tacking up in preparation for the parade.

The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment

The Royals appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace where they watched a flypast.

The RAF put on an incredible display.

HM  Armed Forces

The Royals looked very impressed.

HM Armed Forces Facebook

It is always a special occasion when we see the entire family together.

British Monarchy Flickr

Kate is wearing a silvery grey 3/4 sleeve dress by Canadian designer Erdem. The bespoke piece features embroidered detail. The neckline is modified from the Pre Spring 2012 resort collection piece below.

Erdem

A closer look at the beautiful embroidery detailing.

Kate wore two blue lace, Erdem dresses during the royal tour of Canada. I'm both surprised and delighted to see Kate choosing Erdem for today as I had assumed she would choose a British designer.

Canadian Heritage Flickr

Kate wore a beautiful McQueen coat dress to last years event. Do you prefer this years choice?

The Duchess is wearing a hat by milliner Jane Corbett.

Kate wore her $215 Links of London Effervescence Bubble Stiletto Earrings. It is the second consecutive day Kate has chosen the sterling silver earrings. The Duchess wore them yesterday for 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'.

Links of London

Kate's clutch is believed to be her grey suede McQueen from the Fall 2011 collection.

Alexander McQueen

You can watch a video from the event at the BBC.

Tomorrow Kate will visit the Widehorizons advernture centre in Kent. See you all then and thank you for reading :)

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