Duchess Kate in a mini-caped Mulberry coat in Northern Ireland: dated or lovely?

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit the charity Cinemagic in Belfast

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge headed out for their second day of activities in Northern Ireland. They stayed overnight in Belfast – William looked like he had a few beers at their event last night – and they started their Thursday with an event at Hillsborough Castle. You know what just struck me? When the Queen visited Northern Ireland a few years ago, she got to visit the set of Game of Thrones (which is NI-based) and see the throne. But Game of Thrones has wrapped filming now, so I guess all of the GoT stuff has been completely shut down. I wonder if anything remains of GoT in Northern Ireland?

Anyway, their trip to Hillsborough Castle was basically a meet-and-greet and a “discussion” about mental health. For all of the exterior stuff, Kate wore this Mulberry coat in blue, which retails for £1,735. Considering how many friggin’ blue coats Kate owns, don’t you think this one was a major waste of money? I mean, the design is so Edwardian, so Mary Poppins-esque. Kate does those kinds of “throwback” fashion moments so often, where it really looks like she thinks she’s a royal figure from a century ago. And the buttons… for the love of God. Underneath the coat – she actually took it off when she went inside!! – she wore a “bespoke” Jenny Packham dress in navy. I appreciate that Kate isn’t subtweeting Meghan by making a show of doing “repeats” at the moment. But good lord, did Kate really need another blue coat and navy dress? She literally has three dozen coats and dresses in every shade of blue.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit the charity Cinemagic in Belfast

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit the charity Cinemagic in Belfast

Photos courtesy of WENN.

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125 Responses to “Duchess Kate in a mini-caped Mulberry coat in Northern Ireland: dated or lovely?”

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  1. ByTheSea says:

    I must say, Kate has stepped up her style game. She’s even begun using different colored shoes! Remember those horrible nude wedges and pumps?

    • TheHufflepuffLizLemon says:

      It’s beautiful, and she looks fab-also, so glad to see some shoe effort. Maybe Meghan threw the LK Bennett nude wedges in a fire and that’s what started their whole “war.” /s
      A tiny part of me wanted to ask if she traveled from Beauxbatons to win the TriWizard Tournament, but that’s just the Potterhead in me.

    • emerson says:

      Tell the truth. Shame the devil. What in the hell a of drunk Mary Poppins and Home Economics project gone wrong?
      She would have done better wearing a dress completely made of buttons. I’m pretty sure it would be far less than 1735 pounds.
      Bring back the scuffed nude L.K. Bennett court shoes, baby blue coat #23, and a poorly stitched Emilia Wickstead dress. G’day

      • sequinedheart says:

        I have to agree, emerson. I thought the color was lovely on her but it’s all kinds of try-hard 1950’s Mrs. Maisel gone very wrong.

      • starryfish29 says:

        This is honestly one of the worst things she’s worn. It’s a dead ringer for the french wizarding school uniforms from the Harry Potter movies, color & everything.

      • Mishka says:

        Best comment I read today. You really made me laugh out loud. Thanks.

    • Megan says:

      Her regular stylist is on maternity leave and the professional she hired to fill in made the nude pumps magically disappear.

    • Heather says:

      Tehy are visiting Northern Ireland because of Brexit. Ireland wants Northern Ireland to remain in the EU / open border between N Ireland and Ireland. Britain/England disagrees and wants to keep Northern Ireland “in the fold”.

      Smart of them to visit N. Ireland. And about time.

      • Tina says:

        That’s not quite accurate, no one wants a hard border between the Republic and NI. Brexiters are prepared to accept one rather than stay in the EU customs union, but everyone would prefer that a hard border didn’t happen.

  2. Franny Days says:

    I actually really like the coat 😳

    • Milla says:

      I loooove the coat. And the Missoni. Her clothes are same as always, she just carries herself better. She is more confident which is great.
      I love blue and the coat, i’d wear it until it fell apart on me.

      • jan90067 says:

        Love this, all day! The fit is impeccable on her, color is GREAT, and I love the darker blue shoes. She looks great! And I think it’s cute that Will is color-coordinated with her 😊 I’d’ve preferred a small, handled bag over a clutch (for daytime), but that’s me.

    • Ronaldinhio says:

      I can’t bear her in cosplay Nanny McFee or Harry Potter extra
      Beyond frumpy
      She should embrace fashion. She has the height and weight designers goo for. She could be such an amazing show pony for British fashion.
      Yesterday in jeans and a puffa jacket she looked miles better

    • Original Jenns says:

      Love it. Everyone would judge me all day, every day because if I had their stacks and reach, I’d be theme dressing the 1940s and 50s fashion at every event. Call it cos-play, call it Halloween, but those decades usually have my favorite lines and styles, and I would go hard in them. I would strut down the street ahead of William and probably be burned at the stake and it would be WORTH IT!

      • Rose says:

        Oh yeah, my fashion style (if I have one at all) is completely 50s and 40s inspired. I’ve seen some folks side-eying the flippy skirts and I’m just like, but anything poofy/flicky is my jam. So I’m just saying if the critiques get too much and she wants to aim for a more modern look, I would totally take about half her closet.

    • Ali says:

      I love the coat. I think she looks great!

    • SK says:

      I LOVE it! Stunning. Beautiful fabric, beautiful cut. Yes she has a lot of blue coats – obviously they work for her. She could re-wear them more for sure; but I won’t begrudge her this one. The dress is plain but very suitable. Hopefully she re-wears them both!

      Side note: good lord the woman is thin – I wish she felt confident enough to be her old, more athletic self rather than a stick figure. Of course, if I was being critiqued (ie: savagely ripped apart) over every single thing that I did, every expression I made, every line on (or not on) my face, my teeth, my smile, my posture, my weight (yes, I know!!), everything I wore, my waist height, and more; then I would probably have a bit of a complex about how I looked. It’s sad that Letitzia and Kate – who’ve had pretty savage critiques aimed at them since they got together with their husbands – got so, so thin.

  3. Annie. says:

    Coat porn. I want that coat in my closet like right now.

    As for the dress, it looks warmer than her other blue JP? But anyway, that coat is the star here

    • PlayItAgain says:

      Agreed! I love her coat. Blue is a good color on her.
      Plus, blue is one of the best colors you can wear on TV. It comes across the best regardless of the type of telly you have.

    • Lexa says:

      I was going to say the same thing about the dress. It’s a very similar color to her other one (so the more gray-blue navy shoe choice has me like ???) but it looks like this one is wool blend and the other seems much lighter. I would have assumed people would like this dress more because of the non-puff shoulders.

    • Lilla says:

      I love the color of the coat and everything about it except the over-styling. Belt, buttons, collar, and cape is too much. Lose either the cape or the collar and I would call it perfect… for Kate.

  4. manda says:

    I’m not usually compelled to go “oooh!” when I see what Kate is wearing, but I love that light blue coat!

  5. Laura says:

    I think it looks lovely!

  6. runcmc says:

    Her hair looks SO perfect. I know she has a million of these outfits but to be fair she looks stunning in both the coat and the dress so… could be worse?

  7. WingKingdom says:

    I heard “cape” and got excited, but nah, this is boring and I don’t like it.

    Back to the Selma Blair post- now that is an awesome cape!!

  8. minx says:

    It’s a win IMO.

  9. tempest prognosticator says:

    She looks very pretty. And happy to there. In fact, she’s looked like she’s been enjoying her work and her life much more since she was pregnant with Louis.

  10. Clare says:

    I like the coat…and most of her outfits on this trip, but holy heck can they not find a coat at jigsaw or riess, which costs like £300?

    I know we collectively like looking at clothes etc, but the spending from both her and Meghan is getting ridiculous. And please don’t start about how Charles pays for their clothes – where do you think his Duchy came from? ARGH.

    • Kittycat says:

      According to Google Prince Charles had 400 million.

      “Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, known formally as The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, rely on a a mix of public and private money. Over 90% of their income comes from a private estate, the Duchy of Cornwall, which was established in 1337 to provide an income to the heir to the throne.”

      • Tina says:

        The Duchy of Cornwall is a private estate, but its income is not necessarily private income. Charles receives nothing from the Sovereign Grant or the Duchy of Lancaster. And he had/has 400 million what? The income from the Duchy of Cornwall is £20m per year.

    • Lilla says:

      Agree about spending on clothes from both women.

  11. LadyAnne says:

    Love the outfit – and look! A pencil skirt! She looks great, IMO.

  12. CharliePenn says:

    Am I the only one that thinks it’s terrible?

    • Beth says:

      You’re not alone. I don’t really like any cape style coat or dress, so I don’t like this coat either

    • Nic919 says:

      No. It’s awful. It’s a bad colour on her and the cape looks silly and like cosplay. Isn’t she going to be doing a nurse related event today? Seems like she’s theme dressing again.

    • vava says:

      I hate the coat. Besides, she has numerous other coats in this hue, but this thing looks a woman’s take on Sherlock Holmes. Grab a pipe and a hat, Kate, and you’re ready for a costume party.

      • Ahoyoy says:

        This coat is an abomination. And the color is awful on her. Why did she not just wear the blue McQueen? Or the red CH again? Or any one of the thousand coats she has accumulated in the last decade. This is a short trip, she shouldn’t need more than one coat. And the new Missoni that looks like an old Erdem? She really is as dim as they say. What an embarrassment. Of all of the sensitive places to send a clueless English social-climbing, spendthrift Belfast is the wrong one.

      • vava says:

        I agree, Ahoyoy.

    • Cee says:

      Too many things going on at once – the cape, the big buttons, the wide belt.

    • Anastasia says:

      Nope. I do, too. I think the color is awful–kind of a drab, grayish blue. And I’m a HUGE fan of capes–I think we should all wear capes all the time, LOL–but this one doesn’t quite know if it wants to be a cape or not.

    • PrincessK says:

      I am with you. I don’t often comment on fashion so much but that coat is awful, I couldn’t wear that. Just goes to show we all have different tastes.

    • Slowsnow says:

      I intensely dislike it. But I am all for structured clothes (half a cape is not structure) and modern looks. The problem with Kate’s fashion for me is that it’s dated and while I wish many things of the modern world did not exist like, say, pollution, contemporary fashion is not one of them.

    • LizB says:

      Naw. I think it’s horrible. She looks like she’s wearing a costume.

    • Ina says:

      A caricature of Sherlock Holmes and way too busy coat. She needs a stylist stat.

    • Cerys says:

      I don’t like the coat either. She has a lot of blue coats that look much nicer than this one.

  13. Lala11_7 says:

    Most of her coats remind me of what my Mama used to make me wear to church when I was a child in the 70s….

  14. Jfromfla says:

    I want to like the coat, but I just can’t! It reminds me of something that a character would wear on the tv show Once upon a Time.

    • Erinn says:

      Same. I like the color but I’d drop the cape portion and change the neck/breast of the coat and like it a lot more.

      So …. capes are a big thing again, huh? I’m not really a fan… but they’re everywhere lately. Dresses, coats… we’ve seen so many looks from awards shows lately with capes or something resembling a cape involved.

  15. Seraphina says:

    I think she intentionally goes out of her way to be mundane. To be able to set fashion and to speak through clothing!?!?? And yet she does not. I would give her lack of fashion pizaz a pass if she did work land showed interest. But that too is a bog goose egg.

  16. Monica says:

    Awful.

  17. Abby says:

    The coat looks like something a Beauxbaton would wear from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I love the blue dress though.

  18. Lola says:

    The coat looks like the one worn by the French witches in Harry Potter. I love the dress.

  19. Erock says:

    It reminds me of the wives coats on The Handmaids Tale.
    That being said, I really do like it!

  20. LadyLaw says:

    This coat is very Melania Trump-Esque. So for that two thumbs down.

  21. Va Va Kaboom says:

    I think blue, in all it’s shades, are Kate’s go to neutral. The blue coat situation is admittedly getting ridiculous. Still, I don’t think we’d be making as big an issue if she were choosing to wear a bunch of black.

    • Its Ok says:

      I agree about the black. Especially because we lump all the blue coats together as if they are all one shade. No one lumps gray coats in with black or white coats. It’s the medium blue coats that she has a genuine problem with. This is a good replacement for the military style one she has in this shade. The pockets on that one are ridiculous and the fit is awful.

  22. Becks1 says:

    I feel like she has so many coats/dresses in that color (remember that suit she wore a few years ago?)…and I don’t love that color on her, I think it washes her out.

    BUT, ignoring that – I want to like the coat, but I don’t. when I first saw it I thought “ooh! pretty!” For Kate, the cape is something very different, but that combined with the big buttons and the belt – its too much in my opinion. In the picture where she is holding the flowers and you cant see the buttons, it looks a lot better IMO.

    I really like the dress she is wearing underneath it though. To me, that style should be her go-to – slim pencil skirt, clean lines minimal fuss about the dress.

  23. Weaver says:

    It looks like an exaggerated version of the black coat Meghan wore on the balcony during that Rememberance ceremony thing.

    Her hair is forever in pageant/news anchor mode.

  24. DS9 says:

    Two words…

    Harry.Potter

  25. Anare says:

    For the love of god could she please find a different silhouette. I hate this coat. It looks like all the others she wears plus a little cheesy cape tacked on.

  26. AnnaKist says:

    Ooooooo. No. She looks like a governess from years gone by. I don’t like it at all.

  27. Toniko says:

    Aww poor thing. she tried.

  28. bonobochick says:

    It is an okay coat but she has so many coats and coat dresses already, esp in blue, so it is more of the same to me. Wills looks like normcore cosplay

    Dlad to see the price here. I should check if daily mail put in the cost.

  29. Lexa says:

    I like that this coat has a bit of whimsy (as sad as I am about it, I do wonder if the McQueen coat in this same color is now retired to the archive after being reworn x amount of times?). Weirdly, I don’t mind the similar Jenny Peckham dress because 1) it’s professional looking 2) I thought the other one was looking a bit tight (or least uncomfortable) on her post-baby and 3) it looks like a heavier weight wool-blend fabric than the other one she recently rewrote. I wish she had gotten it in a true navy, though. Hoping she repeats this one a few times because it’s a pretty classic dress. (And no a-line skirt!)

  30. another kate says:

    I don’t hate it, but I think I would like it a lot more if the belt and buttons weren’t so matchy matchy. Whoever made the Harry Potter reference was spot on and made me like it a little more haha.

    The darker blue dress is great though! She looks awesome in that color!

  31. Themummy says:

    I love that coat!!! I do not agree that she looks like she’s trying to be a royal from 100 years ago. She does tend to go for a preppy to somewhat 60s retro style at times, but I see no issue with that. I think it looks great and I LOVE retro styles, especiallly when they have a classic look and clean or interesting lines. I call this a fashion win.

  32. claire says:

    Not fashion related but what’s up with her hands in the second photo where she’s sitting down? Is she holding something?

    • Enn says:

      I think she has her fingers linked. I use that gesture (without thinking) when I’m talking about joining things together, but I’m Italian so I “talk” with my hands a lot. I once knocked a bottle of beer over at an event when I got a little too expressive 😳

      Hate the coat, love the dress.

  33. burdzeyeview says:

    Her Eliza Dolittle (pun intended) look does nothing for me.

  34. Catherine says:

    Erm….I actually like the coat a lot. It’s interesting. *hides*

  35. Lexistential says:

    Eeek. Not a fan of the coat. My first thought was Handmaid’s Tale and Kate looked very Serena Joy.

    However, love the deeper navy dress. It isn’t frocky but looks professional.

  36. Aerohead21 says:

    Cape, collar, belt, and buttons…

  37. Deb says:

    Her interactions with people seem so forced – she wears that maniacal grin but the lack of genuinity is in her eyes.
    Maybe it’s her background as an actress but Meghan seems so sincere and always appears to be enjoying herself when meeting people.

  38. Ib says:

    It would be nice in a jewel tone. (Actual mulberry colored?). This color makes look dated and she has a jillion coat dresses in this color.

  39. BeanieBean says:

    Well, it seems like that length of cape/capelet is the current fashion (isn’t it the same length as the one on Meghan’s red dress of a few days ago?). So she’s wearing what’s in fashion. Which is counter to what I’ve learned over the years. Buy classic, good pieces that can be worn for years if not decades, and mix in just a few pieces of whatever is current, because fashion changes almost daily. As for more blue interchangeable clothing, I get it. Blue’s my favorite color, too, and I have a closet full of it. Then again, I earn the $$ that go toward buying all that blue….

  40. Sunshine says:

    Don’t know if anyone’s mentioned already, but I think she wears a lot of blue to match up her Diana ring.

  41. jay says:

    She has the worst style of anyone I’ve ever seen. Fight me.

    • Ina says:

      She does not have “it” period! I’m also seeing more and more of the open mouth grins as if to make herself look more approachable and engaged, but ends up looking so forced and fake instead.

  42. Lorelei says:

    Another new blue coat? Lol, never change, Kate.

    Re: the dress, it’s very pretty, but it’s basically just a simple sheath. Why on earth couldn’t she have bought a blue dress off the rack? It seems ridiculous to pay for bespoke Packham when she could have easily found something similar at LKB or Reiss or wherever. There are no special design elements to that dress whatsoever.

  43. Svea says:

    In addition to the coat, isn’t it interesting that they visited Northern Ireland just before Brexit? What will soon have to be a closed border between The Republic of Ireland (stays in EU) and Northern Ireland (UK) is one of the biggest problems with Brexit. Was the visit a cheery PR reminder to NI not to secede?

    • Tina says:

      I am still hopeful there will be a solution and there doesn’t have to be a hard border, because that would be a disaster.

  44. ChillyWilly says:

    Well I freaking love this coat! But I also love me some Edwardian shizz. I can see how it’s not for everyone but it looks great on Kate. That color is to die for.

  45. Mei says:

    The coat isn’t good, but capes are on trend for the year as per recent fashion weeks, so she’s actually pretty fashion forward for a change!

  46. ojulia123 says:

    I like it! It has a vintage feel to it. Very pretty.

  47. FredsMother says:

    What in Sherlock Holmes is she wearing now?????? 🤔🤔🤔. I do love the navy court shoes though.

  48. Carolind says:

    Loved the coat. Dress nice but she looked very thin. But…her body, her choices.

    More importantly she went out there today and engaged with all people, so, good!

  49. Misty says:

    Very dated and not flattering. The color is okay but it’s too much with the caped sleeves, the belt, the pockets, all of the buttons. And she looks rather matronly wearing it (along with her hairstyle). The blue dress underneath is better. But she has a ton of blue coats/dresses/and coat-dresses, no need for more.

  50. SpilldatT says:

    I don’t like the colour of the coat, but it has so many things going on: cape, button, belt…it would be so much better without the buttons. It’s from Mulberry 2018 & sold out according to other sites.

    The navy dress is so similar to what she wore before…sigh

    Both Kate & Meghan seem to like the same things, same colours from various designers, it seems. Meghan has those wrap coats, Kate has her button coats.

    She doesn’t look bad honestly, just that it’s so similar to things she’s worn. At least she is working, I guess? LOL

  51. Case says:

    I love the coat. I’ve been seeing a lot of that powder blue lately and I think it’s such a nice color.

  52. billypilgrim says:

    A “mini-cape coat” lead me to think I was going to see something INTERESTING.
    Uh no, a powder blue coat with the bottom half of Charlotte’s dress stapled on to the back.
    Maybe if it were plaid or an all over print, the cape would blend in better with the coat. More subtlety needed.

    Applaud her for trying something different.

  53. YankLynn says:

    Just for grins I googled images “kate middleton and blue coat” A mind boggling series of pages will come up with Kate in different blue coats, including several of this shade of blue. You really have to shake your head when you see all those thumbnails scrolling in front of you. I know her closet has to be very well organized and I’ve heard some stars have to have a reference binder with pictures, probably much like we can google image search on. Surely she has such a thing and can see herself in 20 different blue coats so when she has the urge to wear a blue coat she knows what she has already.

    • Nic919 says:

      The Queen’s dresser Angela Kelly makes sure to catalogue everything the Queen wears so they know what she has and in what colour. Kate should have started doing this years ago. The amount of light blue coats alone is so wasteful.

    • Ahoyoy says:

      I never want to hear the Kate fans talking about how much money Meghan spends on clothes again. Never. Again. Kate has a near duplicate of everything she’s worn on this trip. Ridiculous.

      • Olenna says:

        Oh, believe me, you’ll still hear it. Especially from the ones who only trash Meghan but rarely even bother to comment on the Kate threads. Their hypocrisy knows no bounds.

      • Pearlime says:

        As opposed to a dozen beige trench coats?
        I’m not taking sides, the money/fashion discussion is pretty ridiculous and speculative on both ends. I also think its the one the BRF cares about the least.

      • Ahoyoy says:

        Yes. I would rather someone buy a dozen trenchcoats in neutral than 3 dozen slightly different wastefully expensive, era-specific blue coats.

        I just quickly googled ‘Kate Middleton blue coat’- there are 30 of them. 30 different blue coats. That’s gross. She doesn’t need 30 blue coats for 30 years. And that’s just the blue ones.

  54. Flying fish says:

    I am getting a Sherlock Holmes vibe from that coat!!!

  55. Maryrose says:

    IS THERE ANY PARTICULAR REASON THE FUTURE KING OF ENGLAND CAN’T WEAR A TIE?

  56. Anitas says:

    It looks like a coat a doll would wear.

    • CrystalBall says:

      Exactly! The cape is too short and out of proportion. It rides too high on her shoulders like an unwanted dust ruffel. This is a coat that should be confined to the bottom of a dog basket.

  57. sghomeNC says:

    Tragic. Please send her to buttons addict anonymous. Sherlock Holmes did it better…

  58. Maria says:

    Another blue coat! How many does she need?