Duchess Kate repeats a Zara dress for a keen stop at a London university

Duchess of Cambridge visits University College London

The Duchess of Cambridge did an event today at University College London’s Centre for Longitudinal Studies. The event had something to do with the Keenwell Institute for Busy Work, Buttons and Early Years aka The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood. Remember that? Kate did a big, splashy rollout for the “center” in July, because Kensington Palace wanted Kate to have some big, new, keen thing to announce and promote. The “center” is just a desk inside of Kensington Palace where someone makes Keen fancams, I’m pretty sure.

As for Kate’s look at this event… she wore a repeat. This is a Zara dress which originally retailed for about $110, but it was likely on sale for £16 when Kate purchased it. It’s houndstooth and it has puffy sleeves and a pussybow. It looks very much like something Diana would have worn in 1985. Kate previously wore this dress when she and William visited Bradford in January 2020. She paired the repeat with Hugo Boss heels and Mappin & Webb earrings which cost £3,750.

According to the Mail, Kate “met with leading early years researchers and learnt more about their new study, ‘The Children of the 2020s’ – a new nationally representative birth cohort study launching in England, which will track the holistic development of children from the age of nine months to five years.” I can only imagine that conversation, as Kate tried to pretend that her Five Big Questions was some kind of landmark initiative and not just a huge waste of time, effort, money and keenness.

PS… Credit where it’s due, I’m glad to see Kate wearing a mask.

Duchess of Cambridge visits University College London

Duchess of Cambridge visits University College London

Duchess of Cambridge visits University College London

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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118 Responses to “Duchess Kate repeats a Zara dress for a keen stop at a London university”

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  1. FrodoOrOdo says:

    I wish she’d wear an adult sized mask and stop wearing dresses from the wardrobe department of 9-5 and Tootsie.

    • Mac says:

      I believe that is a women’s sized mask. I’ve purchased a few because standard masks cover my entire face, including the lower half of my eyes.

      • FeedMeChips says:

        The way her baby masks fit always reminds me of when a starfish attaches itself to Vanessa’s/Ursula’s face at the end of The Little Mermaid.

      • Gobo says:

        They are definitely children’s masks and they look ridiculous. Usually she gets them from Amaia, they even call them the Duchess mask. I have women’s masks. They still cover the full side of my face, to within an inch of my ear.

  2. Erica says:

    Why can’t she ever copy Queen Letizia? I would love to see her in a more tailored, polished look.

  3. girl_ninja says:

    Hand talking to let us know she’s really engaged.

    • Lady Digby says:

      Any body language expert tell us what her splayed finger hand gesture indicates? It is one of her favourites and Billy boy just hates it!

      • Jaded says:

        From what I’ve read her weird splayed fingers and outstretched palms can mean discomfort and wanting people to back off. There’s a “zone” in front of you that is quite compact when you’re doing any kind of public speaking or communication with people you’ve just met. I think subconsciously Kate is so uncomfortable in her role (and so woefully unprepared because she’s lazy) that her hands are speaking for her, i.e. going out of the “zone” with stretched clawing motions and open palms, when she should be keeping them closer to her body with smaller, palms up or towards her body motions. Makes sense. She really should see a public speaking expert about this, it only shows how little she really cares about her role.

      • Lady Digby says:

        Thanks for that explanation which makes sense. I have always wondered why Mumbles didn’t have a voice coach and presentation training. Mrs Thatcher and Diana had voice and presentation training in 1980s so it is standard if you want to self improve and communicate w ell. Is this another example of laziness and as goon tabloids slavishly overpraise her, she doesn’t feel she has to bother?

    • Kay says:

      Hey, at least she’s not crotch grabbing! 🤷🏼‍♀️

  4. Eulalia says:

    This dress looks very on brand for Kate…that’s all I’ve got.

    I feel like something big is going to go down with the Shamebridges soon though, all this courting the press feels like it’s leading up to something or preemptive damage control.

    • Pao says:

      The dress is awful

      And about the pr. What they’re doing is competing with the sussexes. The NY trip shook them to the core. So now its full steam ahead to remind people of how “amazing” the Cambridges are

      • kelleybelle says:

        The dress is hideous, you’re right. And I’m not convinced her mask is an adult one. They never seem to fit!

      • Betsy says:

        Full steam ahead for about a week and then we won’t see them till Christmas. Lol.

    • DeeSea says:

      I am really questioning my own taste right now because I thought this dress was so much better than what she usually wears!

      • Betsy says:

        I’m joking when I say this but I’ve half wondered if Kate’s a witch. That super 1980s hot pink dress (big neck ruffle or something? Maybe navy polka dots on it, too?) she wore that got slammed had me questioning myself too because I was like “I kind of totally love it?”

        The icy cold hand of Kate will come get us all eventually.

      • Same says:

        Everything she wears is going to get slammed , I like almost all of what she wears , but I have a more buttoned up ( pun stays ) style and I like fussier, prissy shit so there’s that.

        Don’t feel bad for liking the clothes , just say something about her posture or Botox or wiglets and you’ll be fine .

      • Courtney B says:

        I’ll join you in the corner of shame. If it doesn’t have too many buttons or looks like it’s made of doilies, I like a lot of her stuff. *ducks* Also excluding custom tailoring misfires. I don’t mind a pussy bow and I’m sad Melania and Kate have helped give them a bad name. Lol Meghan’s aesthetic is more mine (see dislike of doilies and buttons) but there are certain point the circles overlap on the venn diagram.

  5. Becks1 says:

    I’m sure she was told a mask was required. Everyone else in the background etc seems to be wearing one.

    This dress is funny to me bc when she first wore it, I hated it. Now, compared to some of the other monstrosities we have seen her wear in the almost 2 years since she first wore this one, I’m like….its not so bad? It has a lot going on with the puffy sleeves and the belt and the pussybow neckline but because the pattern is so busy it ends up hiding a lot of that. I can name probably 5 dresses from the past 20 months that were a lot worse, lol. But at the time I remember hating this, its just that her style has sunk so low when it comes to these dresses haha.

    The study sounds interesting, but is her Early Years Center involved at all? Doesn’t this seem like something that should be right up that center’s alley? Or to at least provide funding? Isn’t this the kind of study that her EYC should be leading?

    • Lemons says:

      The study will probably be used by Early Years at some point…”co-opted” rather. And then we can pretend that, thanks to Kate, all of this information and research is being shared with the world.

      • PrincessK says:

        The students do not seem to be very interested in this visit which was probably for less than an hour. If there were pictures of people excited to see Kate we would have been shown them.

        I remember when Meghan visited a university in London the press said the reception she received was like that of a rock star. No wonder ‘they’ wanted her gone.

    • GraceB says:

      Mask rules confuse me here in the UK. I’m pretty sure you don’t have to wear them anywhere anymore but it’s concerning that living here, even I’m not sure. People are much more relaxed about it now and nobody stops you for not wearing a mask anymore. Social distancing has completely been forgotten about, despite most places still having signs up.

      I know Kates early years work gets a lot of criticism and it’s vague. Not enough details have actually been released about it, but in theory it could be a very good thing. There is truth in the significance of early development and social deprivation related issues which can have a lifelong impact. I just wish they’d be more clear on where it’s headed.

      • Becks1 says:

        @GraceB –

        to be clear, no one here who mocks Kate’s early years research doubts this line:
        “There is truth in the significance of early development and social deprivation related issues which can have a lifelong impact.”

        We just doubt that she is doing any serious work in that field, or that she has any desire to do anything that would change lives for the betters during the early years. It’s just become a buzz word for her so people can say she is working. We’re not mocking the work of people who are actually doing the research in this field. We’re mocking Kate who is pretending to be a heavy hitter in this field.

      • bruh says:

        @Becks1
        ok, so she is supposed to do the research work and all alongside all the scientists and teachers and psychologists and what nots? I always thought that royals just show up to events to “shine a light” on any issues that they are interested in/passionate about.
        I feel like this Kate hate is over the top and she’s being criticized for the tiniest of things. Yea, most of her outfits are weird, but the work she does is what she’s supposed to do. I don’t think anyone anywhere indicates that all this is happening only because of her keenness or trying to show somebody up.
        What happened to objective reporting?

      • Emma says:

        Bruh, she is not doing the work she’s supposed to do. To match the other senior royals, she would need to have a few hundred engagements a year, and she doesn’t come close to that, and she never has.

        No one is saying she has to have a doctorate or conduct research, since nobody in the royal family is remotely capable of that obviously.

        She doesn’t even have to be like Diana and make a true impact to save lives relating to HIV or land mines (although ideally she WOULD have a couple global causes like that).

        She could do just do a few hundred bread-and-butter, ribbon-cutting, attention-getting events a year in little towns and villages, plus a handful of higher-profile royal events, like Anne or the queen, and no one could fault her.

        I know she has little kids but she also has tons of help and resources and she’s the future queen for god’s sake. She has a responsibility to her people.

      • Nic919 says:

        So are we going to ignore the 2 plus years of the UK media promoting the survey that KP claimed Kate worked on for 8 years? Or the centre that was created at KP in July that now seems to be dropped? We have been saying for years that Kate should simply be highlighting the work already done on early childhood development and not try to reinvent the wheel. But until today’s visit, they have continued to pretend that KP was going to actually work on this. If we are going to talk about objective reporting then let’s also examine what has been reported by the UK media and how they hyped Kate as some kind of early childhood specialist.

      • Pao says:

        @Bruh. When it comes to kates early years work, the criticism is absolutely justified. Yes royals shed a light on the projects they are passionate about. And absolutely nobody would have an issue with kate doing just that if she and her bloody team didn’t pretend that she was some type of early childhood expert. You know how kate can use her profile the best regarding this topic? Highlighting actual experts and organizing fundraisers for early childhood research centers and charities. Because that is where the issue lies: lack of funding. Kate did nothing for 10 years just to open a research center, that is going to do what exactly? Again, there is already plenty of research on this topic the real issue is funding.

      • Couch potato says:

        @bruh Kate herself (and her staff) made a BIG fuss about HER big study on early years and it ended up being 8 (or was it 5?) very very basic questions. Had she done what you are saying; highlighted the work of real researchers and read that research (or at least a summary of it) before she met them, people here wouldn’t criticize her for it. Had she actually worked up the same numbers as Anne, Charles and some of the other elderly royals with bread and butter arrangements, people wouldn’t call her lazy. Kate and Willnot made it clear they wouldn’t do the same kind of bread and butter arrangements. Instead they wanted to work with a few charities a year and make a big impact for them with substantial work. What she and Willnot are doing now is a very low number of engagement, but without the deep dive into it like they promised. Instead they’re doing a few b&b.

      • Becks1 says:

        @Bruh – you do know that KP has spent years promoting Kate’s early years as exactly that, right? That she’s going to be doing the research alongside the actual researchers and psychologists etc? There was so much buzz around her “landmark study” coming from the “5 Big Questions” (buzz from the RRs) and she “established” her Early Years Centre etc and how she was really getting in the trenches with this work etc. That’s why we all mock it, because that’s not AT ALL what is happening and everyone knows that.

        Kate could just shine a light on others research. But that’s not what the RRs want her to do at this point, she needs to compete with a certain other duchess, and she’s failing miserably.

        And no, she does not do the work she is supposed to do. Dabbling in Early Years once ever six months because someone decided Kate needed a “cause” is not doing work.

      • Sunday says:

        @Bruh Kate’s team came up with the Early Years because she needed a reason that she didn’t have the engagement numbers of Anne or Charles (or Sophie). So, their tactic was, instead of lots of little events, she’d been working on one huge project, and the Early Years focus was born. (The initial announcement of this focus also just happened to compete with the timing of a certain sister-in-law’s project launch, but I digress.)

        The problem was, after months of announcing that they would soon make an announcement about the actual thing, the big “project” was an incoherent, badly worded 5 question survey – we commenters are not saying that Kate has to conduct the research next to the scientists and scholars, SHE said that herself by starting this project with her survey. Scientifically, the survey was useless, and socially it was a dud, so they came up with the establishment of the Center, which has done literally nothing since establishing the initial mission statement of being a Place to be Keen.

        Yes, this is a crucial subject that would benefit from the spotlight that comes with royal attention, but nobody is out of line by pointing out that Kate’s spotlight only shines on herself rather than the subject she uses to make herself look engaged. If she really cared about the Early Years or making an impact in that arena she wouldn’t have let her already-established patronages related to children shut their doors due to lack of funding.

      • Kfg says:

        @Greceb and @Bruh, 4 of the charities she is a patron for have folded. She put together a photoshoot with Dr. Biden vs a real roundtable to discuss what is actually needed. She doesn’t care and yes there is major work she could do herself: she could clean out the kids clothes and donate and ask the other aristocratic people to donate for a clothing drive. She could actually cut a check to pay for food for food pantries vs buying ugly ass 80s clothes. She could actually champion causes. But she would rather be a mannequin cosplaying Diana and MM.

      • Bruh says:

        Comparing her to other senior royals is unfair though. They don’t have 3young kids. Yes, but she has help..true, yet it still doesn’t matter really.
        I understand that she falls short on the mere mortal pleb superwoman standard scale. At the end of the day we don’t know neither what her life is like or what certain other duchess’ life is like. All I see is women being pitted against each other without rhyme or reason. Just our own bias and subjective projections.
        Carry on

      • Courtney B says:

        @bruh the thing about the small children at home is that *every* royal woman with children has done this for generations. Just in the last few decades, Anne, Sophie and Diana all did (or do—Sophie’s son is still pretty young but both are minors and she’s been doing a lot of work the whole time) a ton of work. Going back, the duchess of Gloucester and Kent did. As did their mothers in law, the previous duchesses. And that duchess of Kent was a widow.

      • teecee says:

        @Bruh But don’t most mothers with small children do more work every day? Even if they don’t have traditional corporate jobs, they do the cooking, cleaning, managing the house, etc. She doesn’t have to do the domestic drudgery. So what does she do all day? Why can’t she cut one ribbon/shake hands for 45 minutes a day in the afternoons when her kids are already at school? Even if it was only 5 days a week, that would be 5 events per week, 20 per month, 240 per year. Even if you could 2 hours of prep and travel, that would be three hours per day. I know women who do three hours of work – meal prep, cleaning, organizing schedules – before they leave for their actual jobs. And most of them are mothers!

        No one is asking her to go down into the coal mines. But if she just did these little things, she would be almost unassailable, given that she already has “thin white mom” going for her. The fact that she hasn’t realized this is perplexing.

    • Nic919 says:

      That’s what I was thinking. Basically this university is doing the study and she’s going to pretend that it was the centre for buttons and hand waving that did it instead. It really looks like there is no need for the made up centre because the work is happening elsewhere and she can just take credit for it.

      • JT says:

        Kate is not reinventing the wheel. The work on the early years and their effect on children has been happening for decades. Claiming that her “research” is groundbreaking and adding anything to the conversation surrounding this very important issue is absurd. Kate doing this event with this university just proves that her little survey and it’s accompanied research center is a complete waste because the work is already being done.

      • Nic919 says:

        And her hyped up survey that wouldn’t have passed the standards of a basic first year undergraduate psych course didn’t add to the conversation at all.

        This is all an ego boosting exercise. It’s clear no one can tell her the truth about what she should be doing. That said she did reveal her shallow efforts on a world stage with Dr. Biden so maybe they can have her focus on highlighting the work of real professionals now to avoid further embarrassment.

  6. Woke says:

    First time seeing her wear a black mask other than at the funeral. I guess seeing M rock hers encouraged hers to dump her patterned ones. And why she insist on wearing those small sizes.
    She can stick to these types of dresses, her copying meghan so blatantly was getting embarrassing.
    She’s always learning researching and we never see the results.

  7. The Duchess says:

    She’s drowning in that dress. Yikes.

    • Seraphina says:

      Yes she is. And the pictures do her no favors. She looks tired.

      • WithTheAmerican says:

        Are her under eye bags back? I’m invested in how she spent her long summer vacation out of the spotlight.

      • Seraphina says:

        The second to last pic, she looks tired and not like she did in the funeral pic. I mean, we all know that funeral pic was touched up but it really shows the difference here. And both pics are close up with her wearing a mask.

    • Eating Popcorn says:

      Yes – the fit seems totally off. I am sure there is an attractive cut of dress for long wasted, slender women, this just isn’t it. It looks as if it is dragging her down.

    • Couch potato says:

      Yrs, she is, but not as much as the last time she wore it.

    • NightOwl says:

      Do they not have any tailors on staff?

    • NotSoSocialButterfly says:

      She definitely needs it tailored.

      Something nice… her earrings are right up my alley.

  8. Jais says:

    Well at least she’s highlighting other people’s early year research rather than her own 5 questions research. Like she could have done that the whole time, spotlighting true research, as opposed to spotlighting that early years pie chart on a smartboard. It would’ve been easier too.

    • ABritGuest says:

      Exactly. Please tell me what was the point of her largest ever survey? This visit just proves the point that the research was already out there & she could have just been highlighting existing work instead of reinventing the wheel and pretending to be groundbreaking with her survey etc.

      Also if she’s been at it for 10 years as they claim why is she still just learning? Aside from the obvious answer of increased government funding (which is a political point) what are some of her solutions to the issues around early years?

      Hate to bring up Meghan but it strikes me that in one visit to that school in Harlem where Archewell & P&G funded supplies & washer for school uniforms & then teamed up with a non profit to provide reading nooks for various nyc public schools- she’s provided more useful support in this area than Kate has in her ‘decade’ of early childhood development work. I don’t know why the royal foundation can’t just provide grants for sure start type programs etc especially as Richard Eden says they raised record funds recently.

      • Becks1 says:

        The other thing that stood out to me about this visit – if this were Meghan, she would know what the study was doing. She would have shown up with a binder or a folder with all the information she already knew, the questions she wanted to ask, etc. Compare that to Kate, who it seems was given some sort of pamphlet at the center and I’m sure that’s going right in the trash when she gets home. Or maybe even on the way home.

      • Amy Too says:

        The point of her most hugest most bestest survey ever was to “start a conversation” …….presumably a conversation about Kate.

    • Jais says:

      Oh no, becks1, that pamphlet is for sure going into her research center. She’s gathering the research for her keen research center, which will be full of pamphlets and pie charts.

    • goofpuff says:

      I still don’t know what her research center actually does other than fund her walking around talking to people. Why don’t they donate actual money to the research? Like a significant amount, not a pittance.

      • Ginger says:

        There is no point to her early years project. It’s just busy work. If Harry never married Meghan, there would be no early years project and no ‘research center’ . Kate doesn’t care one bit for this project. She did absolutely nothing for kids and mom during quarantine. That would have been a wonderful thing for her to do while moms were working from home and home schooling their kids. She did nothing.

  9. mariahlee says:

    So the empirical research that should have underpinned and informed her landmark survey…

    I think this look is more her style, but I’m really not a fan. I prefer she cosplay Diana over Meghan tho.

  10. Osty says:

    Kate the learning duchess. This woman has been learning for over a decade and still hasn’t learnt anything. She is just a airhead who has wasted that massive platform and thanks to the pathetic sycophants aka the BM , gullible pple think she is a hard worker , regal etc because she wears clothes, heavy makeup and shut up

    • Elizabeth Kerri Mahon says:

      This reminds me of how, after she graduated from university, she took a photography course instead of getting a job. The only reason, she took the job at Jigsaw was because the Queen told William that it wasn’t a good look for Kate to be swanning around two years after graduation doing nothing.

  11. Sofia says:

    I don’t completely hate the dress. If she lost the bow and changed the neckline, I would really like it IMO.

    And it’s been 10 years but what EXACTLY is her goal with Early Years? The time for research and this “centre” that’s basically a think tank in her living room should have been done in 2012 or something. It just seems she goes to places doing actual and useful research, nods her head and goes “yes this is very important” and that’s it.

    I guess it’s on me for expecting too much from her. But in 10 years, she could have gotten a bachelor’s, masters and be at the end of a pHd (or even completed it) in childhood development. And yet nothing (obviously not expecting her to undertake any formal education in EY but my point is to point out how little she’s done in 10 years)

    • Becks1 says:

      It took her 10 years to establish the “centre” that’s supposed to be doing research…like it took her 10 years to say “well my study says that we need more research in this area.” Like she could have had this up and running in 2012 like you said, and then at this point they could have had some landmark research to show for it.

      I know the comparisons are tiresome, but its such a difference between her and Meghan. Meghan doesn’t try to start everything on her own, she doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel. She attaches her name to already well-established organizations or charities and then comes up with an idea to help them, or lends her name to boost their publicity, or helps them achieve their goal with fundraising or phone calls etc.

      Meghan didnt say, I don’t like how every country does not have equal access to vaccines ,let me study this issue for 5 years, then i’ll talk to some people, then maybe I’ll start a center to figure out why there is such vaccine inequity. Meghan said, “I dont like vaccine inequity, here is an organization that is ALREADY working to fight that, let me work with them and help lead this cause.”

      Obviously H&M are founding things as well and getting their own projects off and running, but a lot is supporting existing projects and helping them and boosting them etc. and that is FINE. Not every project they do or the working royals do has to be the next Prince’s Trust or the next Invictus Games. Harry and Meghan get that.

      Of course even when H&M get something off the ground from scratch it takes a fraction of the time it takes W&K.

      • Rapunzel says:

        But Becks, if she worked with powerful existing charities, like Meg & Harry, then Kate would have to share credit. She wouldn’t be able to act like she is some dynamo who does everything single handedly.

        This is why W&K will never truly beat the Sussexes: they are too focused on being #1 that they’ll never form the necessary collaborations make a real impact.

      • Becks1 says:

        You’re right Rapunzel. Kate’s “work” is all about Kate getting credit and getting her name out there, so of course she’s not going to partner with another organization that might try to “steal” the spotlight from her.

      • Amy Too says:

        “Meghan doesn’t try to start everything on her own, she doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel. She attaches her name to already well-established organizations or charities and then comes up with an idea to help them, or lends her name to boost their publicity, or helps them achieve their goal with fundraising or phone calls etc.” Sounds like a royal patron. This is royal patron 101. Kate has patronages, so I don’t know why she doesn’t try to do these sort of things with them? There’s somewhere in the middle between “visit my patronage once every 6-8 years and have articles written about my dress” and “start my own center/organization and come up with a massive project for it that is all my own, not related or attached to any of my actual patronages. Something that will take up all my time so I can’t even do option 1 anymore for my actual, existing patronages.” What you wrote—what Meghan does—is exactly where Kate should be, in between the 2 extremes, doing the actual work of an actual patron.

        When they said they weren’t going to have hundreds of patronages because they wanted to focus more intently on just a few, this is what it should have been! This is exactly what that means. She has something like 10 patronages, some of which are no longer operating, and yet she’s coming up with entire new things to be the “patron” of like her Early Childhood Research Centre. And then all the time and money and energy is spent on getting the new self-created “patronage” up and running so she can actually do “patron” stuff for it later, when the UK already had hundreds of thousands of working charities/centers/organizations that she could just BE THE PATRON OF. Spend her energy on creating something new FOR the patronage, something that improves on or builds on the current structure of the existing patronage.

        It’s like someone who was hired to be the clown at a party, but instead of just showing up and doing what they were contracted to do, they went off and planned a whole new party for some reason.

    • Nic919 says:

      It’s clear that the whole working on the survey for years was a total lie. The first time broken Britain was ever mentioned was the Friday prior to Meghan’s cookbook being released in autumn 2018. Becky English previewed a half ass idea feed to her by KP staff and then nothing was done for almost two years after that.

      It’s always been a make work project to try to make Kate look like she does more than exercice and shop for clothing.

      • RoyalBlue says:

        It’s all a lie, made up to compete with Meghan’s causes. Kate’s interest to make meaningful change is a lie. When she staged that photoshoot with Dr. Biden, she didn’t go prepared to discuss anything, vs Dr. Biden who had a lot to speak about, but was cut short when the photoshoot was over. Kate used Dr. Biden to make an underhand slap at the Sussexes.

  12. Dee says:

    This dress just looks sloppy. The bow hanging down the front is so sad.

  13. Jan says:

    She had no choice but to wear a mask, look at the people around her.
    Man it must have been harder to understand mumbles with a mask, without one she unintelligibly.
    Wonder what dumb question she asked.

  14. Dorky says:

    I love the dress and think she looks great! 🙂 🤷‍♀️

  15. Harper says:

    As if these people haven’t seen Kate’s Early Years roundtable with Jill Biden and laughed.

    • RoyalBlue says:

      yes. that was the difference between prepared and unprepared.

      • BothSidesNow says:

        The fact that she is continuously pretending to be involved and making an impact with a visit once or twice a year is disrespectful.

        On top of that, the RR act like she’s actually working or making an impact when she doesn’t and refuses to do so.

        Stop trying to sell us something that she is not, we aren’t buying it!!!

  16. Psyren says:

    She really needs a stylist. She’s a perfectly pretty woman but she has no idea what’s stylish or flatters her figure. This is another frumpy ugly mess of a dress.

    • kelleybelle says:

      Pretty? I’d go with low-end average. And she’s had a nosejob and plenty of fillers and botox already.

    • PIP says:

      She has the perfect figure and access to the best fashion yet falls short most of the time!

  17. sunny says:

    Good for people doing actual research and if Keen’s make busy project is supporting this by giving it a platform or investment, then good. I’m all for something good coming out of the Duchess of Button’s weak attempts at work.

    The dress is not a good look on her- too much fabric between the sleeves and the bow. It really seems like her style is always stuck in the 1980’s. The whole thing looks really dated.

  18. Chaine says:

    Frumpy, dowdy, dated…

  19. Mooney says:

    Repeat the dress, but have super expensive earrings or clutch or shoes. Same old, nothing to see here. 🥱

    Btw, is that ginger I see? Or Auburn? I recall a certain Madam Duchess having streaks…..

    • Jais says:

      Idk if it’s ginger but I’ve been saying there is something about her highlights that are giving me Meghan vibes. The way they’re placed maybe? But I’m predisposed at this point to think she is copying Meghan, which is not always the case. Sometimes, often? But not always.

  20. Digital Unicorn says:

    I like the dress but when she repeats clothes you should always remember the she’s likely wearing brand new expensive jewellery – the earrings are way too expensive for what they actually are.

    The hair is nice but she back to doing her own makeup – panda eyes and 80s blusher.

    As for the event, blah – its the same old statements around the subject she just copies and pastes them from event to event.

  21. Emily says:

    I don’t even think her Buttons Institute was involved with this. I think this was just her getting her photo taken next to somebody else’s research.

  22. Bethany Karger says:

    Those claws that replace hands in her conversations drive me nuts! Wouldn’t you think if she saw photos of what she looks like, she’d do something else with her hands, besides pick at her fingernails and do lobster imitations.

  23. Pork chops & Apple sauce says:

    She definitely got a massive freshen up over the summer. I can’t remember the last time I love seen, if ever, her forehead look so smooth.

    • WithTheAmerican says:

      I’m seeing it too. The lack of hanging jowl sagging cheeks. Under eyes not so haggard.

      She’s a very pretty woman, I’ll just never understand why she has such bad taste and no style.

  24. Lady Esther says:

    Aaaaand Frumpy McFrumperson is back. She looks awful, that dress is hideous…

    • JT says:

      I guess Wootton spoke too soon about Kate’s glamorous transformation that would make Meghan jealous. Meg wouldn’t be caught dead in this dress.

  25. Lexistential says:

    Another Keenwell engagement where she shows up to be photographed talking with her hands for her on-brand vagueworking: she’s being shown something to learn something to help something out.

    Meanwhile, if these were the Sussexes, they’d have shown up with a partnership, a plan, and a donation. The Cambridges got nuthin’ next to that.

  26. KentBrockman says:

    The “questions” for her study were embarrassing. I would expect any high schooler in a psych class to do better. Also…yeah the early years are important, there’s already tons of studies on that, did she expect that to be revolutionary? Should have thrown some money and influence behind a centre that already works on supporting neglected kids, instead of acting like she invented the idea that small children need support and love.

  27. Daffodil says:

    Can someone send this woman a slip? Please? I’m no fan of slips myself, but I’d pull one on in a hurry if I were going to be photographed walking in a flowy dress. It’s unflattering how she’s wearing eight yards of fabric yet you can still see every inch of her legs.

  28. Margaret says:

    I don’t buy that dress cost 16 pounds. Tell me anything. Why are katies clothes always cheaper than meghan, or undervalued, and meghans are overvalued?. More bs.

  29. iconoclast59 says:

    I think Kate looked okay. I prefer Meghan’s style overall, but I’m not going to trash Kate’s attire just because it’s Kate. I like that the dress has a little bit of a V neck so the bow doesn’t look so prim and proper. I like the wide belt. The sleeves are a little puffed, but not ridiculously so.

    What I didn’t like: The partial pleat — I think the pleats should’ve gone all the way to the waist. The way the skirt tucks between her legs when she walks (a slip would’ve fixed that — does anyone wear slips anymore?). I would’ve liked to see a pop of color with the shoes; say, burgundy or navy.

  30. Catherine says:

    This frustrates me so much. There is already so much great research out there that talks about the needs if children in the early years. She could be supporting already existing programs that are research based like the children’s trust first 1000 days program. Don’t get me wrong I’m not against UCL research they will get useful information about this cohort of children which is significant because of the pandemic. But basically this allows her to sit around for the next several years waiting for this research pretending that she’s doing something while she could actually be having a tangible impact right now.

  31. Val says:

    @bruh “what happened to objective reporting”? You may want to ask MEGHAN. You can’t be serious. This is why we feel the way we do about Princess Keen, anything she does is praised and blown out of proportion. Meghan can’t even touch her pregnant belly without outrage. But here you are…ask yourself that question again!!

  32. hezzer19 says:

    Why did I just start singing 9 to 5?

  33. FancyCatsup says:

    She desperately needs to wear a slip.

    • JRenee says:

      This would have still been a retro look not good for her figure but to have it lined or a skip would have helped a lot…sigh

    • JRenee says:

      This would have still been a retro look not good for her figure, but to have it lined or a slip would have helped a lot…sigh

  34. Amy Bee says:

    Kate’s dressed like a granny. KP put out a statement from Kate prior to this visit. So at least the papers will have something to print besides she wore a dress from Zara.

  35. LovesitinNM says:

    I’d like to see what this dress would look like with a narrower brown belt and brown shoes.

  36. Mrs. Smith says:

    It’s funny that after Dan called her out for for being dowdy…she chooses to wear this.

  37. AmelieOriginal says:

    This dress was tragic on its first outing and just as tragic the second time. She insists on wearing these 1980s silhouettes and they are never flattering on her. But yes, at least she is wearing a mask. I’m kind of confused about the rules in the UK about masks (if there are any), sometimes we see William and Kate inside with people in close quarters wearing masks and in others we don’t. Just a few weeks ago Kate had some private reception at a palace (I dunno which one) indoors and she and none of the guests were masked. I’m guessing for this outing it was required so she wore a mask.

    Just two days ago, the Queen opened Scottish Parliament with Charles and Camilla in attendance and everyone was wearing a mask except for… yup, the Queen. Even Camilla and Charles were wearing one. I think the only time we’ve seen the Queen wear one was at Philip’s funeral. So now I hope people can understand my lifelong dislike of Queen Elizabeth, I have never liked her and never will.

    • Becks1 says:

      @Amelie the Scottish parliament opening was weird to me bc when they were arriving, the queen and charles weren’t wearing a mask but Camilla was. And then the one picture I saw of them inside, Charles was wearing a mask but Camilla wasn’t (maybe she was singing during a song or something? IDK.) The rules are definitely confusing, or so it seems from the outside.

  38. Gus says:

    Nevermind

  39. Cottage Cat says:

    In the words of The Eagles “Her mind is Tiffany twisted, she got the Mercedes Benz

  40. Dido says:

    From the time she’s started talking about this to the point where there’s any actual results (if any), millions of kids will have aged out of the “the early years”… That’s how slow she works

  41. teehee says:

    Y’know this really ISN’T something that Diana would’ve worn…. it’s too loose, too hangy, too floppy and it doesn’t appear to be a textured or woven fabric but more like a printed polyester.
    A major no in terms of Diana’s criteria- tailored, fitted, nice fabrics, balanced and interesting coordinated accessories, often with a color pop. This is …. just … a bunch of frump off the rack. I mean not even the belt is visible- it would be so much better in all black, white, all grey or heck go for a navy blue and blue shoes. Red even! Diana would have loved a red belt and shoes.

    The stature of the person wearing a dress will also make a big difference.
    Kate really should consider wearing more petticoats or peplums, especially if she wants to go the Dynasty Shoulders route.
    Example: look at Kate in her wedding dress- it had a “bustle” type of filled A line skirt which looked dramatically better on her than all these not-filled skirts.

  42. Merricat says:

    After Kate’s lack of basic preparation for a round table with Dr. Biden, I don’t have time for her effing around and calling it work. God! She’s an empty sack of skin.

  43. MA says:

    No hordes of cheering crowds like during Meghan’s university visit?

  44. UCLStudent says:

    Unsurprisingly, the Daily Fail aren’t exactly right – she visited UCL IOE – Institute of Education. The Centre is a department and project within UCL IOE… it’s a pedantic point maybe, but as someone who attends IOE, it’s kinda nice seeing that we’re getting some press, if only the press were more accurate. Don’t even get me started on what her Early Years Initiative is thought about….. there are people who’ve been doing research on this stuff for decades and she swoops in and…. essentially reproduces very basic questions and concerns? Like did you even read anything before you started your “Initiative”? (Probably not). At the same time, it’s always nice for educational research to get a boost.

  45. jferber says:

    Emma, what you say makes a lot of sense. Unfortunately, that’s why she’ll never do it. I think she truly prefers to be called lazy (yet amazing for
    . . . reasons) than actually do real work. It’s a choice, I guess– a very poor one for her kids (or husband) to follow. But he obviously sets the tone for the whole relationship. He’d have to have a lazy wife who wouldn’t outshine him. He’s very much like his father Charles in this. Imagine another “Diana situation” in William’s marriage? He must have gotten the message very early. Marry a mediocre wife. Marry a mediocre wife. Marry a mediocre wife. If Diana were less hardworking, less caring, less charismatic, less stunning and more of a doormat, then she probably would have been fine (and in the doormat category I include accepting husband’s mistresses).

  46. ChattyCath says:

    I had a dress like that thirty odd years ago in a soft mauve check. At the time it was expensive, £75 and I only bought it because I had an occasion to go to and it was £27. It was frumpy then. Just saying

  47. NightOwl says:

    It’s odd really, how underworked she is and overexposed at the same time. And how she does not really lend her name to the projects and events she appears at and draws focus away from what she is supposed to be promoting. She is very bad at her job of being a patron.

  48. jferber says:

    NightOwl, very perceptive comments. It’s like the charities are giving HER a shot in the arm by lending their worthiness to her, a rich bitch publicity hound. She drains the charity and the charity gives to her. For no normal person would it work this way. It takes a very specific type of selfish, elitist succubus (or incubus) to feed off of humanist causes while giving nothing in return. She and her husband are far worse than Katie Couric, who at least made her own living while elbowing other women out of the way. These two are pure parasites, hoovering up British taxes and called royal for so doing. Sickening really.

  49. Marivic says:

    Kate looks aged and tired. What happened? Nasty fight with husband ?