Fancy bumping into you! Blooming Duchess pirouettes with Paddington
SHE wasn’t wearing a label saying Please Look After This Duchess.
But when Kate arrived at Paddington station yesterday, she found herself in the care of a very charming bear.
First they just chatted and giggled. But then before she knew it, the 35-year- old duchess, who is pregnant with her third child, was being twirled around on the platform.
William and Harry, who had joined her on the royal visit, could only watch as Kate took Paddington’s paw – and centre stage – swaying to the calypso music. After all, it’s not every day that a bear with a marmalade sandwich under his hat asks you to dance.
Kate, who was showing a hint of a growing baby bump, made a surprise return to royal duties following her battle with severe morning sickness. As he watched her twirling around, William said: ‘She’s feeling much better.’
In an Orla Kiely pink flower embellished dress and £3,400 diamond earrings by Kiki McDonough, Kate was also showing off a shorter bouncier hairstyle. Later her dancing partner said: ‘She’s a right good mover, and I think she could win Strictly Come Dancing if she was in it.’
Along with William and Harry, Kate met the stars of the Paddington 2 movie and children being treated to a train trip to the countryside. It was only her second public appearance since Kensington Palace announced she was pregnant last month.
Earlier the royal visitors had boarded the train to chat to the children chosen for the trip by charities such as Child Bereavement UK, East Anglia’s Children’s Hospice and the Diana Award. ‘I asked her what it was like to be a princess because I’d like to be one,’ said ten-year- old Mahira Gazi. ‘She said her favourite thing was meeting special people like us.’
The Duchess of Cornwall called on women to unite yesterday. Camilla told the Women of the Year lunch: ‘In these turbulent times in which we live, I believe it is more important than ever for women of all ages and from all walks of life to unite.’
She looked back to 1955 when the event was created to ‘increase understanding of the countless struggles that women face’.