Kate Middleton made a patriotic statement on Friday as she took part in the Irish Guards’ St Patrick’s Day parade, her first since she was made colonel in the regiment by King Charles in December.
Kate attended the annual parade at Mons Barracks in Aldershot with Prince William, who was a Colonel in the Irish Guards until his wife took over the appointment following his assignment as the new Colonel in the Welsh Guards last year, honoring his title of Prince of Wales.
For the occasion, Kate wore a teal coat dress from design house Catherine Walker & Co. The label had previously designed a number of Princess Diana’s most iconic dresses.
Kate is a long-time customer of Catherine Walker & Co. and prefers their heavily structured coat dresses. The example, worn on Friday, featured a tiered pleated detail around the neckline and princess seams that cascade into a straight-cut skirt.
The princess accessorised her coat dress with a matching felt hat, teal suede pumps and a gold and emerald heirloom brooch in the shape of a shamrock, previously worn by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
This isn’t the first time Kate has attended the St. Patrick’s Day parade. That was in 2012, the year after she married William, and since then she has competed almost every year except for 2016 (due to family commitments) and 2020 (when the bulk of the regiment was deployed abroad).
The couple also missed the 2021 celebrations due to the COVID pandemic.
In each of her appearances in the Irish Guards’ St Patrick’s Day parade, Kate has paid tribute to the occasion in some way with her outfit, which often features different shades of patriotic green.
In 2022, the princess wore an emerald green wool tailcoat by designer Laura Green London. The coat featured military-inspired epaulettes and buttons, a statement belt and fluted skirt panels.
The royal updated her look with a new green felt hat from Lock and Co. with a bow detail incorporated. She completed her look with the Irish Guards shamrock brooch.
During Friday’s engagement, Kate gave battalion members the traditional shamrocks to wear pinned to their tunics. The princess also wore a sprig of the plant from which Ireland takes its national emblem pinned to the breast of her cloak above the gold and emerald brooch.
Both William and Kate paid tribute to each other as incoming and outgoing colonels in their speeches to the guards on parade.
William spoke fondly of his years of observation of the regiment and the connections he forged with the families of those serving. Before introducing his wife, he said, “In Colonel Catherine, you have a dedicated, focused, and already incredibly loyal 11th Colonel.”
In her speech, Kate praised “Colonel William” and spoke of her enthusiasm and pride for the regiment with which she will work closely.
“I look forward to spending more time with you and your families and seeing your commitment to duty and service in all you do,” she said. “But before I close, I would like to thank Colonel William. He always spoke of his deep pride for this regiment. I know that he will continue to support us all in our work. Finally, I would like to wish you all a very happy St. Patrick’s Day.”
James Crawford Smith is news week‘s royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and keep reading his stories news week‘s Facebook page of the royals.
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