KATE’S (£1,300) CASUAL COMEBACK
IT may be only five months since she gave birth – but you wouldn’t have known it as the radiant Duchess of Cambridge returned to royal duties yesterday.
She looked effortlessly stylish even as she dressed down to join a group of children in a wildlife garden.
Her casual ensemble, including jeans and her favourite Penelope Chilvers boots first seen in 2004, totted up to £1,314.
Kate, 36, who gave birth to Prince Louis on April 23, was visiting the Sayers Croft Forest School and Wildlife Garden in Paddington, which gives innercity children the chance to experience nature.
And she soon found herself giggling at the antics of one girl, four-year- old Anwaar, from St Stephen’s School in Westbourne Park, West London, who made a beeline for her, cuddled up to her and then clowned around with a beaker in her mouth.
Kate revealed that she spent hours on ‘spider hunts’ with her two eldest children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, in their garden. And she took part in a ‘minibeast hunt’, looking for bugs and creepy crawlies with a group of youngsters who had already found frogs, toads, woodlice, worms and spiders.
‘I’m going to find a snake,’ one girl told her enthusiastically, prompting a smile from the duchess – whose only minibeast success was finding a slug.
Kate plans to launch a major campaign to help children failed by ‘Broken Britain’, as revealed by the Daily Mail last month.
She believes the right support, from birth, can help disadvantaged youngsters reach their potential. She is asking experts in fields including academia, education and health to work on how to help families tackle anti- social behaviour, addiction and mental health.
Arriving at the wildlife project yesterday, Kate was greeted by youngsters from St Augustine’s School, Paddington, and given a posy – and a massive hug – by Janine Osman, four.
She joined some children as they potted up pea seedlings in newspaper. They were interrupted by Lanwe, four, who had made a pendant from a thin slice of wood for Kate and wanted to give it to her.
‘ It’s for you,’ Lanwe said proudly, adding afterwards: ‘I’m going to make her three!’
Kate then met the youngsters from St Stephen’s and sat with them on a log, which is when Anwaar ran over to sit next to her. After teachers handed out squash, Anwaar drank hers thirstily and made Kate laugh as she yelled: ‘More!’ She then put her empty beaker in her mouth and threw back her head.
Zoe Stroud of Sayers Croft said: ‘She really understands the value of being outdoors for children, especially those in cities who never have the chance to get their hands dirty.’