Secret’s stout! Wills and Kate enjoy a beer
WILLIAM and Kate toasted St Patrick’s Day – and an afternoon without their children – by knocking back a glass of Guinness yesterday.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge enjoyed a drop of the dark stuff as they toasted the Irish Guards at their annual parade.
Kate, 37, wowed in an emerald green Alexander McQueen coat and matching hat paired with a gold shamrock brooch and completed her look with green tourmaline earrings from Kiki McDonough.
Mascot
The parade at the Ist Battalion’s base in Hounslow, west London, began with the Last Post, before the Duke and Duchess led a minute’s silence in memory of the 50 victims of last week’s gun massacre in Christchurch, New Zealand, which was observed by the royals, the Irish Guards and their families.
Dressed in a red coat, mascot Irish wolfhound Domhnall, who was presented with his first shamrock in 2013, yesterday had the honour of leading the regimental band and parade of 350 soldiers in a march at which William, Colonel of the regiment, took the salute.
Drummer David Murray, Domhnall’s regimental handler, said the St Patrick’s Day parade was number one in his calendar and like a second birthday. “We’ve had a couple of rehearsals, a couple of little bits that we’ve had to obviously fine tune.
“Domhnall has been in the battalion since 2012, he’s pretty good at his job. He helps me through the parade to be honest, he knows what he’s doing.”
In a tradition dating back more than 100 years, Kate presented sprigs of shamrock to officers and warrant officers.
Toasted
The shamrock’s three heart-shaped leaves represent Ireland and the Holy Trinity and each year on St Patrick’s Day are handed out to Irish Guards – and their mascot – by a senior female member of the Royal Family. The tradition, started in 1901, later became the trademark of the Queen Mother who maintained it until she died in 2002. It was later taken up by Princess Anne but since 2012 the responsibility has fallen to the Duchess of Cambridge.
The royal couple were later toasted at the Guardsman’s Lunch and treated to a tipple of the stout.