The Princess of Wales mixed familiar styles with new pieces for a visit to the Windsor Family Hub today. 

A quick video as the Princess arrived comes via Richard Palmer of The Express

She was there to hear about the organization’s work supporting families across Windsor, Maidenhead, and the surrounding areas.

The hub is managed by Achieving for Children, a non-profit offering “a wide variety of services designed to support parents, carers, and children of all ages, including universal provision delivered through family hubs. This is offered alongside targeted support provided at the earliest opportunity to facilitate family resilience and prevent issues from escalating.”

The Princess heard from staff about their experiences in providing services to the community. 

Another view. 

More from a MailPlus piece by Rebecca English

She told Maidenhead children’s services boss Lin Ferguson: ‘I keep driving past, saying I need to see what’s going on in there.’

Kate sat down on the sofas with a group of mums who use the space to meet up weekly and swap advice on how to raise their children.

This piece in the York Press offers background.

The hub offers support on issues including exploitation, knife crime and substance abuse problems alongside basic parenting skills.

The princess has a keen interest in the early childhood sector and previously launched the Shaping Us campaign with the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood in January 2023 to highlight the importance of supporting young children and those caring for them.

And she spoke with parents about the support they are receiving from the organization.

The Princess took part in one of the courses offered at the hub.

The Princess with one of the toddlers at the center. 

We return to the York Press piece.

She also joined a stress management course with mothers from the Punjabi community, and upon learning about the course said: “I’ll come here and pick up some tips!”

Lin Ferguson, executive director of children’s services and education for the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, told the PA news agency: “It was absolutely amazing, because she (Kate) is really passionate about the work that she’s been doing on Shaping Us, and she was really engaged.

“People were nervous but she really put people at ease, and she was genuinely interested.”

We also return to the MailPlus article

The group erupted in laughter when Kate told one dad how good it was to see a man among the five women who were being instructed on how to massage their babies.

‘It’s great to see a man here,’ she said.

Kiran Rudolph, who was at the centre with three-month-old Raya, said: ‘It’s one for the memory books. She made a point to speak to every single one of us, which was amazing. We were nervous but she’s a mum as well so that helps.

The Princess with one of the mothers and an infant.  

We return to the MailPlus story one more time. 

She also spoke about how we as a society need to ‘normalise’ emotions, saying: ‘We all experience such different emotions and cope with them in different ways. It’s so important to be able to share them in a safe environment.’

When asked by the princess if they feel it’s changing culturally to be able to freely speak about your emotions, the group said: ‘Yes, definitely.’

Mother-of-three Anaya Faisal, 40, who is fighting breast cancer and on the ten-week stress management course, said: ‘I wish Kate could come here and share her experiences of being a mother. This place is really helping us. We don’t talk about mental health at home. Depression is still a taboo. But they have really helped me change my negative thoughts to positive.’

A group photo from today’s visit. 

In a social media post after the engagement, Kensington Palace wrote. 

The Palace also released photos of a home visit the Princess made after leaving the hub, saying, “A big thanks to the Beldom family too for such a warm welcome into your home.”

We turn now to look at what Kate wore for today’s engagement. 

She was in a new (to us, at least) Zara blazer. With thanks to Found by Bojana for the ID, the piece appears to be Zara’s Double-Breasted Houndstooth Blazer (past season). It is a cotton/poly/acrylic blend in a classic double-breasted silhouette with peaked lapels, front flap pockets, padded shoulders, silver crest buttons, and a center back vent. From a distance, the jacket looked like a gingham check, but in seeing closeups of the fabric, you can tell the pattern has a bit of the jagged edge distinguishing it as houndstooth.

We saw the return of the ‘Nadalia’ Cotton Blend Puff Sleeve Top (no longer available) from the Lauren Ralph Lauren line. The finely ribbed top is a cotton/nylon blend with a squared neckline and puffed sleeves. It was first noted at a September 2020 engagement.

It also appears the Princess brought back her the Frieda Cigarette Trouser ($195, now sold out) by LK Bennett. The style is made with a poly/viscose stretch crepe, with a straight-leg cut, front zip, and front pockets. 

The Princess wore a pair of Lulu Pointed Flats ($440, about ) in ‘midnight navy’ by Emmy London. The point-toe style has a suede upper, leather sole, and leather lining, with a .5″ heel. Thank you to Middleton Maven and Gabi for their speedy ID of the shoes. 

The jewelry worn today was familiar, the Mappin and Webb ‘Empress’ earrings and pendant (£2250, about $2800).

The identical earrings are no longer available; a current version of the earrings may be seen here

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Also today, congratulations to Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank. Yesterday the Princess announced the arrival of the couple’s new baby, Ernest George Ronnie Brooksbank.

More from the text accompanying the photos posted on Instagram

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Finally, I had hoped to have a post yesterday with more details on some of the styles worn for last week’s royal wedding in Jordan. I wanted to wait and see if I could make arrangements to license additional images from the event; those negotiations didn’t wrap up until today, so it will be Thursday or Friday before I publish that post. I will see you tomorrow for the Princess’s engagement at the Maidenhead Rugby Club.

VIDEOS: 

The Royal Family Channel offers coverage of the visit.

 

 

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