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With only five weeks to go until her due date, Kate Middleton wants to be sure her home is ready for the baby’s arrival.
Kate Middleton, 31, has been pictured shopping with a woman thought to be a lady-in-waiting for soft furnishings at the high-end interiors specialist Bernard Thorp in Chelsea, south-west London.
The visit last Tuesday saw the Duchess of Cambridge spend 45 minutes inside the shop to decorate the new nursery at Kensington Palace in central London, less than six weeks before her due date of July 13.
Just hours earlier Kate Middleton had been with her husband Prince William, 30, and around 2,000 other guests at Westminster Abbey for a grand service to mark the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s coronation.
Kate Middleton pictured shopping at high-end interiors Bernard Thorp in Chelsea
There Kate Middleton wore a delicate daisy lace dress with silver-grey ribbon detail and a soft peach shantung jacket with nude heels, before changing into a navy blue dress and magenta cardigan for her shop.
The front of the store was decked out in light blue, but there was no indication that she bought the color. It was in fact reported that Kate Middleton picked out beige and brown English handmade fabrics inside.
“Kate was fascinated by all the designs and picked out two,” a source told the Daily Star Sunday.
“She had very definite ideas about what she liked. It was boiling hot outside so the door was open.
“She was feeling the heat so we sat her down with a glass of water. The Duchess was charming and so lovely. She didn’t put on any airs or graces. She said she’d got so many ideas after coming in.”
Kate Middleton has one more scheduled official public engagement before she goes on maternity leave, when she names a ship on Thursday in Southampton, Hampshire.
The duchess will also attend Trooping the Colour next week to mark the Queen’s birthday – and is debating whether to join Prince William at the Order of the Garter ceremony in Windsor a few days later.
Bernard Thorp, which was founded in 1971, says on its website that its “hand screen printed fabrics and wall coverings are of impeccable quality with an ethos of service second to none”.
Kate Middleton was left red-faced after the gusts lifted up her polka-dot dress, drawing attention to her thighs.
The Duchess of Cambridge was caught out by the wind as she arrived at the wedding of friends William van Cutsem and Rosie Ruck Keene, in south Oxfordshire, just over a week ago.
Seemingly unaware that her skirt had blown up, revealing her shapely legs, Kate Middleton, 32, gripped her black and white fascinator rather than her hem, laughing as she did so.
It happened as she walked towards St Mary the Virgin Church, in the village of Ewelme in the Chiltern Hills, on Saturday, May 11.
Kate Middleton appeared not to have learned her lesson from the last time she wore the Topshop dress, when she suffered a similar wardrobe malfunction.
The duchess was forced to hold down the back of the black and cream outfit as she arrived at the Hertfordshire-based Warner Bros Studios with Princes William and Harry, last month.
The High Street bargain sold out within hours of her wearing it, but the dress may not get a third showing after proving unsuitable for the gusty British weather once again.
Kate Middleton attended the wedding with Prince William, who arrived separately and was believed to have been an usher, wearing the same morning suit, blue striped shirt, and dark red tie as the groom.
Kate Middleton was left red-faced after the gusts lifted up her polka-dot dress
The couple have known the van Cutsem family for many years and the groom’s niece, Grace, was a flower girl at the royal wedding.
Kate Middleton’s embarrassing moment, reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe in film The Seven Year Itch, was one of several for the duchess.
In July 2011, during a North American tour, her cream and navy cable-knit Alexander McQueen dress was whipped up by the wind as she met wellwishers in Charlottetown, in Canada.
On that occasion Kate Middleton was wearing a cream slip, which protected her modesty. She was not so lucky four days later as her yellow Jenny Packham dress flew up on the tarmac at Calgary airport, briefly revealing her underwear.
But Kate Middleton, who is expected to give birth on July 13, handled all the mishaps with her usual poise.
The exact due date had been shrouded in secrecy, but close friends of the royal couple discussed at a barbecue hosted by a family friend that Kate Middleton expects to go into labor on July 13 – during the Queen’s Coronation Festival.
For the first time, 50% said Charles would be a fitting monarch in the YouGov poll, up 13% from May last year. The Prince of Wales was seen as making a positive contribution to the monarchy by 60% of voters.
The poll showed, for the first time, a majority believe the Queen should abdicate if she becomes too ill to fulfill her duties.
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Prince Harry has reportedly told friends that Kate and William are expecting a boy.
Prince Harry is so happy about becoming an uncle he couldn’t keep the secret of the baby’s sex to himself.
The bookies are offering odds of 1/3 favorite on Kate Middleton having a girl and 5/2 for a boy, even though couple have made no official announcement about the baby due in mid-July.
But those odds may change after a source close to Prince Harry said: “Harry has been telling everyone Wills and Kate are having a boy and how thrilled he is at the prospect of having a little nephew.
“He said the whole family were excited about it. Apparently Kate has always wanted a boy. They’re really working hard on baby names now and think they have it sorted.”
Prince Harry has reportedly told friends that Kate and William are expecting a boy
Princess Eugenie, Prince William’s cousin, has also been telling friends the baby is a boy, according to another royal insider quoted by the Sunday People.
The source said: “They won’t reveal anything to anyone – not even Harry. Of course, Harry’s been making up crazy suggestions and winding them up too.
“The close inner circle all know that it’s a boy and they’re busily buying gifts with a boy theme. There will be an awful lot if blue in their house.”
Although the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have kept mum about the baby’s name, Kate Middleton, 31, has accidentally dropped a couple of hints about the sex of the child in recent months.
In March she appeared to suggest a girl was on the way when she given a teddy by a well-wisher during a walkabout in Grimsby.
Kate Middleton said: “I will take that for my d..” –and then stopped herself.
A nearby listener said: “You were going to say daughter, weren’t you?”
Kate replied: “No, we don’t know.”
Weeks later Kate Middleton appeared to drop another clue as she revealed she had bought a Bugaboo pram in light blue which could indicate the newborn would be a boy.
The pram’s color came to light when the duchess chatted to a group of Army wives at a reception on St Patrick’s Day.
Then Prince Harry was seen holding a blue teddy bear as he walked to Kensington Palace, the home he shares with Kate and William in London.
But there was a simple explanation – the bear had been given to him by a little girl while he toured Nottingham. She asked him to give it to Kate’s baby and he delivered it in person.
But another insider added: “Even though there’s a lot of gossip doing the rounds, there’s no way anyone can confirm it at the moment.”
The Sunday People claims that no decision has been made where Kate Middleton will have the baby, but the choice has been narrowed down to two hospitals.
Princess Diana Prince had William and Harry at St Mary’s hospital in Paddington, West London, while there is speculation that the child could be born at the Royal Berkshire Hospital – the birthplace of Kate Middleton and her sister Pippa.
It was Kate and William second wedding anniversary, but it was business as usual for the Duchess of Cambridge as she visited Naomi House Children’s Hospice today.
Kate Middleton, 31, was without husband Prince William during the engagement at the children’s hospice in Hampshire to mark Children’s Hospice Week.
It was Kate and William second wedding anniversary, but it was business as usual for the Duchess of Cambridge as she visited Naomi House Children’s Hospice
According to sources, Prince William is on shift as an RAF Search and Rescue pilot in Anglesey on the anniversary of their Westminster Abbey wedding in 2011 – which is normally celebrated with a gift of cotton.
However it is believed Kate and William enjoyed a private weekend away in Norfolk to mark the occasion.
On her visit to the hospice, Kate Middleton looked blooming in an apricot-colored Tara Jarmon Coat and a peach dress by a private dressmaker.
She was presented with a beautiful posy of flowers by Sally Evans, eight, from Salisbury, Wilts, who suffers from spinal muscular atrophy.
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Six-month pregnant Kate Middleton and her mother were spotted in upmarket South Kensington together, browsing some of the London’s most exclusive baby stores after enjoying a spot of lunch together at the Zefi Mediterranean restaurant where they were seen by fellow diners sipping healthy fruit juices.
First on their list was Blue Almonds, which boasts that it creates “magical rooms for children” – perfect for the third in line to the throne.
Dressed in identical dark blue skinny jeans and knee-high black boots, Kate and Carole Middleton spent up to an hour browsing the Moses baskets on sale.
Priced up to £295 ($450) for an off the shelf model, they are certainly out of reach price-wise for many new mothers-to-be.
Some bespoke versions at the store can cost up to £1,000 ($1,600) and be customized with frilled fitted sheets and sun shades.
Six-month pregnant Kate Middleton and her mother were spotted in upmarket South Kensington together, browsing some of the London’s most exclusive baby stores
Kate Middleton, 31, who was wearing a loose blue maternity top with a pretty white lace collar, and her mother finally settled on a large white wicker version and walked out into the street together, clearly discussing their purchase.
They were then whisked off by a waiting car driven by one of Kate Middleton’s bodyguards, presumably back to Kensington Palace where Kate is overseeing the renovation of her new apartment.
According to recent reports, work on Apartment 1A, once the home of the Queen’s sister, Princess Margaret, will not be finished until at least September or October this year, well after the birth of the Duchess of Cambridge’s baby.
Kate Middleton and Prince William are currently living in a small two-up, two-down cottage in the grounds, which is less than ideal to bring a royal heir home to.
As a result, say sources, Kate Middleton has decided to eschew the help of a maternity nurse and spend the first six weeks after her child’s birth living with her parents at their new $7.5 million Georgian mansion in Bucklebury, Berkshire.
The duchess has told friends that she cannot think of anyone better suited to helping her in those first difficult few weeks than her mother, who has brought up three children of her own.
“It’s where I feel safest,” Kate Middleton has said.
Carole Middelton is said to be nervous but thrilled at the prospect of becoming a grandmother for the first time – to a future king or queen at that.
Although Izabela Minkiewicz, the owner of Blue Almonds, has declined to comment on Kate Middleton’s purchases, she confirmed that she was “honored” to have received a visit from the duchess.
“We spend a great deal of time making sure that we get to know the client, their particular taste and demands,” Izabela Minkiewicz said.
The following day Kate Middleton was seen back out shopping for baby goods again at the Peter Jones department store in Chelsea, where she spent several hours mulling over buggies and a car seat.
Kate Middleton has revealed that her baby is due in mid-July and that she will be going on maternity leave around a month earlier but insists, contrary to speculation, that she and Prince William have chosen not to discover the sex of their first child.
Jacintha Saldanha’s suicide note has revealed that Australian DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian, who were given details of Kate Middleton’s health by the nurse during a radio hoax, drove her to take her own life.
Jacintha Saldanha, 46, directly blamed the radio presenters in a suicide letter found by her hanged body.
The note said: “I hold the Radio Australians Mel Greig and Michael Christian responsible for this act.
“Please make them pay for my mortgage.”
Jacintha Saldanha left the handwritten note in her living quarters close to King Edward VII’s Hospital where Kate Middleton was being treated for acute morning sickness last year.
The nurse took her own life last December- just three days after she transferred the hoax call to a ward nurse.
It had been thought that Jacintha Saldanha was unhappy with how the hospital treated her after falling victim to the prank call.
But she exonerates the hospital from any responsibility in the letter and points the finger of blame at the 2Day FM presenters.
Jacintha Saldanha, a mother-of-two, addressed the message to her managers at the exclusive London hospital.
She said: “Please accept my apologies. I am truly sorry. Thank you for all your support.”
Jacintha Saldanha’s suicide note has revealed that Australian DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian drove her to take her own life
An inquest into Jacintha Saldanha’s death was due to begin this week but has been delayed. The nurse was found hanging by a scarf from a wardrobe in her bedroom on December 7.
Jacintha Saldanha shared a home in Bristol, UK, with her husband Benedict Barboza, 49, and their two children, Junal, 17, and Lisha, 14.
She had been working in England for ten years but was said to be having problems working at King Edward VII.
It has been revealed Jacintha Saldanha had been taking anti-depressants for nine months after attempting suicide twice in 2011.
She was closely monitored as a high-suicide risk but her employers were unaware of this.
Radio DJ Mel Greig has not returned to work since the hoax call was broadcast in December.
She made the call with co-host Michael Christian, who has since taken a lower profile job at a Melbourne station.
Mel Greig and Michael Christian were sent death threats and hate mail in the aftermath of the prank call.
The radio presenters rang the hospital impersonating Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles and asked questions about Kate Middleton’s pregnancy.
Southern Cross Austereo, which owns the radio station, has offered to pay 500,000 AUD into a trust fund for Jacintha Saldanha’s family.
Labour MP Keith Vaz spoke on behalf of Jacintha Saldanha’s family.
He said: “The forthcoming inquest will hopefully provide answers for the family and for them time will represent closure.”
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Six months pregnant Kate Middleton is said to have told a group of Army wives at a recent drinks reception in Aldershot that she has bought a Bugaboo pram in light blue, which some have taken as a clue to her unborn baby’s gender.
It’s been quite a week for Kate Middleton’s baby shopping: not only has she bought her pram, but she’s also chosen a white wicker Moses basket, which she purchased with her mother Carole from luxurious nursery furniture shop Blue Almonds, in South Kensington.
Made by a Dutch company, the Bugaboo quickly became a status symbol for yummy mummies, and, despite a price roughly the same as a small family car, they became a common sight on the streets of Notting Hill and Chelsea.
The top-of-the-range model comes in at just over $1,900.
Popular models such as the Bugaboo Cameleon, which starts at $1,250, even hold their value second-hand.
Kate Middleton is said to have told a group of Army wives at a recent drinks reception in Aldershot that she has bought a Bugaboo pram in light blue
“A pushchair is no longer something you use to push a child from A to B,” said Jo Studholme, who runs online magazine Pushchair Trader.
“They’ve become a status symbol. There are pramaholics out there who snap up the latest models just as they probably bought handbags before they became pregnant.”
While stores such as Mothercare and John Lewis still have a good selection of own-brand prams at the far more reasonable $390, it’s the designer brands that make most money.
Even without Kate Middleton’s endorsement, the rise of the Bugaboo has been meteoric.
What started out as Dutchman Max Barenbrug’s graduation project at design school in 1994 has turned into a global business.
With two daughters, Max Barenburg wanted to come up with a pram that men and women would be happy to push.
Bugaboo employs 800 staff and sells its products in more than 50 countries. The company’s annual revenue has grown from $2.8 million in 2001 to $97 million at the last count.
While sales are undoubtedly boosted by celebrity endorsement, chief marketing officer Madeleen Klaasen insists that quality is the true benchmark of the brand.
“If your product doesn’t perform, you’re gone after the first-year hype,” she says.
Bugaboo fans insist the pram is well-designed and therefore well worth the price-tag – even though it seems to be universally acknowledged that it doesn’t fit into the boot of a small car and is pretty difficult to work out how to open and collapse them.
There are several YouTube videos attempting to show Bugaboo virgins how to fold and unfold them.
“There was a big buzz about which buggy Kate would go for,” says Jo Studholme.
“I think there will be some disappointed manufacturers out there.
“The Bugaboo does have a high price-tag, but it is well-made and is good quality. The customer service is also excellent, so it’s not a surprising choice. But many had hoped she would go for a British brand, like the iCandy, instead.”
When Kate Middleton revealed she had bought a pram in light blue, Royal watchers wondered excitedly if she had dropped the biggest clue yet to the sex of her unborn child.
Kate Middleton – who is six months pregnant – told guests at a recent reception that she had chosen a buggy by designer label Bugaboo, which has celebrity fans including actress Sienna Miller and television presenter Peaches Geldof.
The buggies, which cost from £500 to £1,000 ($800-$1,600) and can operate as either a pushchair or pram, come in a variety of colors and parents who do not know the sex of their baby usually prefer neutral hues such as beige, off-white or black.
Kate Middleton and Prince William have insisted that they do not know if they are having a boy or a girl.
Kate Middleton, who is six months pregnant, told guests at a recent reception that she bought a Bugaboo pram in light blue
But although it is possible to swap some of the buggy’s accessories for those in different colors, including pink, Kate Middleton’s choice of blue will be seen as a clear hint as to her feelings about the gender.
The Duchess of Cambridge has said she would prefer a son while Prince William wants a daughter.
Yesterday, Bugaboo said it had not presented the buggy to the Royal couple after being advised by officials not to send gifts.
So it appears that the duchess, who was seen shopping for a Moses basket in South Kensington last week with her mother, bought the pram herself.
Kate Middleton, 31, revealed the Bugaboo color when she chatted to a group of Army wives at a drinks reception in Aldershot on St Patrick’s Day.
A source has claimed: “She and some of the other girls were talking about prams and one of the girls had her baby in a Bugaboo.
“Kate said she has bought one in light blue. It was a bit of a hint.”
Guardsman Lee Wheeler, 29, who met Kate Middleton at the ceremony, said the Duchess was happily discussing the Royal bump.
He said: “I asked her, <<Do you know if it’s a girl or a boy?>> and she said, <<Not yet>>.
“She said, <<I’d like to have a boy and William would like a girl>>. I asked her if she had any names and she said no.”
Since then, however, Kate Middleton and Prince William revealed they have a shortlist of boys’ and girls’ names.
Alexandra and Elizabeth are said to be favorites for a girl, with George in the running for a boy.
Kate Middleton and Princes William and Harry had a wizard Harry Potter experience today as they attended the inauguration of the Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, Hertfordshire, UK.
The highlights of their visit include a trip to the Great Hall, a special effects demonstration on Diagon Alley and even a wand lesson in The Gryffindor Common Room.
Kate Middleton, who is due to give birth in July, wore a short £38 ($59) polka dot dress by TOPSHOP and black suede heels with a black Ralph Lauren jacket pushed up at the sleeves.
The trio have brought with them to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter, 500 guests, both children and adults, associated with some of the charities they support.
The royal party were first shown props and costumes from the Batman film The Dark Knight Rises. Princes William and Harry were clearly taken with a camouflaged Batmobile known as the Tumbler.
Prince William turned to his brother and whispered: “We should borrow that for the weekend.” He then climbed inside and turned on the engine, revving it to within an inch of its life.
When Prince William finally emerged from the Batmobile after a long while he said: “I’m a very happy man” but when he spotted his wife the royal apologized saying: “Sorry, sorry.”
Clearly a fan, the future king then couldn’t resist climbing on board the Bat Bike and posing for the cameras as Harry looked on enviously. Both brothers own their own superbikes – but clearly nothing on this level.
The three royals also spent time examining Batman’s heavy rubber armor.
“Is this really what the actor wore, how heavy is it?” Prince William asked.
He was astonished to discover it took 25 minutes for actor Christian Bale to put on.
Kate Middleton joined Princes William and Harry for a wizard day out at the Harry Potter film studios
The royals headed over to a “green screen” where draftsman Ed Symon was seated on another model of the Batpod motorbike sited on top of a “six axis motion base”. It was originally built for the broomstick flying in Harry Potter movies.
John Richardson special effects supervisor on the movies, said: “We’ve had everyone on it from Harry Potter to Voldemort.”
There, Prince William took to the controls of the simulator making the Batpod move up and around as if it was flying.
The visit will culminate with them hosting a most unusual meeting for their Charities Forum in the Great Hall, one of the original sets from the Harry Potter film series.
The Charities Forum is a collection of charities, of which The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry are Patrons.
Started in 2006, it provides a platform for collaborative activity between the 35 participating charities and organizations who meet twice a year to discuss ideas and ways to support each other.
During the first part of today’s Studio tour, Kate Middleton and Princes William and Harry also met some of the creative teams from recent Warner Bros. Productions and were given an insight into the film making process as well as being shown some of the props and costumes from those films.
Warner Bros.’ £100 million ($160 million) facility, the first of its kind to be built in the UK in 70 years, accounts for a third of the dedicated major feature film production stage space in the UK.
It is the only film studio in the country to be owned and operated by a major Hollywood studio.
Formerly the production home of all eight Harry Potter films, Goldeneye, Star Wars Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace and Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow, the state-of-the-art studios now encompass nine sound stages, a 100 acre back-lot and one of the largest underwater filming tanks in Europe. It is available to all kinds of productions, not just Warner Bros., from commercials to music videos, TV shows to feature films.
The first production to shoot there since the redevelopment was All You Need Is Kill, directed by Doug Liman and starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt.
Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter takes guests behind the scenes of the Harry Potter films and showcases the incredible British talent, creativity and artistry that went into bringing the series to life.
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Kate Middleton, who is expecting her first baby in July, looked obviously pregnant for the first time as she attended the National Review of the Queen’s Scouts at Windsor Castle.
The Duchess of Cambridge, 31, was replacing Queen Elizabeth II at the event as the monarch is celebrating her 87th birthday privately.
A volunteer in the Scout Association, Kate Middleton, 31, has worn an extremely short pastel Mulberry coat, fawn pill box hat and her favorite nude LK Bennett heels.
Kate Middleton has worn her Whiteley Cappuccino hat on several previous occasions, including the Epsom Derby.
The event is a day of celebration, bringing together 400 Queen’s Scouts and their invited guests to celebrate the achievements of young people and young adults who have achieved the prestigious award.
It is gained by carrying out regular community service for a year, learning new skills, completing a four day expedition in unknown terrain; taking part in a residential project and then sharing what has been learned with their peers.
Kate Middleton, who is expecting her first baby in July, looked obviously pregnant for the first time as she attended the National Review of the Queen’s Scouts at Windsor Castle
During the event, Kate Middleton spent time talking with some of the 400-plus Queen’s Scouts from around the UK and the Commonwealth.
She also met gallantry award holders, who have been nominated for their bravery and heroism and meeting adversity in their everyday lives.
The tradition of the annual celebration event within Windsor Castle dates back 80 years.
Since its inception, tens of thousands of young men and women have been honored with a King’s or Queen’s Scout Award for their own outstanding personal achievements.
Today, The Scout Association hailed the Duchess of Cambridge, who volunteers occasionally with a Cub Scout group close to her home in North Wales, for a sharp increase in the number of adult volunteers.
A spokesman for the Scouts said the Duchess had done around half a dozen volunteering sessions with her local cubs this year.
Kate Middleton is one of 2,812 new adult volunteers to join this year. These figures represent the second biggest increase in adult volunteers since 1986.
As well as attracting more adults the total number of teenagers in Scouting has almost doubled in the last 10 years, from 23,446 in 2003 to 40,578 in 2013.
However, despite attracting more adults, the Movement still has 37,867 young people on waiting lists who are unable join up because even more adult volunteers are needed.
Bear Grylls, Chief Scout, said: “It’s great that so many adults are joining the Scouts, and I am sure the increase has had much to do with the Duchess of Cambridge becoming a Scout volunteer last year.
“The Duchess is an incredible role model and she helps us show that Scouting’s not just for boys.
“She’s also such a generous volunteer and everyone is so excited to have her in the Scouting family. Many people have followed her lead and are getting involved and enjoying the adventure.”
Kate Middleton has been voted the world’s best-dressed pregnant star in Vanity Fair‘s annual Top 10 Best-Dressed Pregnant Ladies.
Ranking the world’s most stylish expectant mothers, Vanity Fair placed Alec Hilaria Baldwin, second, and Peaches Geldof third.
Halle Berry, Penelope Cruz and Lara Stone, with their closets full of figure-hugging dresses and numerous expertly-layered red carpet outfits, were not far behind.
While many pregnant women avoid belly-hugging clothing, bright colors, and luxurious fabrics – instead opting for elastic waists, and materials synonymous with comfort, like Lycra, jersey, and cotton – these stars have no lack of style inspiration.
The Duchess of Cambridge, for example, has set the maternity-fashion bar high.
Kate Middleton’s classic pieces have inspired and influenced the wardrobes of countless mothers-to-be, concealing her relatively small bump with three-quarter-length coats and knee-grazing skirts that draw attention to her toned legs.
Meanwhile Hilaria Baldwin, 28, has become famous for her simple, low-maintenance pregnancy style.
Kate Middleton has been voted the world’s best-dressed pregnant star in Vanity Fair’s annual Top 10 Best-Dressed Pregnant Ladies
She favors body-hugging, sleeveless dresses that highlight her strong limbs.
Peaches Geldof, 24, has taken a cue from old-world Hollywood glamour, showing off her baby bump in sophisticated gowns – “considerably more maternal than her (occasionally barely clothed) wild-child days of yore,” wrote Vanity Fair.
Penelope Cruz, who is expecting her second child, has style with signature styles she favored pre-pregnancy – like a belted waist.
Favoring tight, floor-skimming black-tie outfits in eye-popping colors in Lara Stone, who plays down her seductive style with off-duty hair and lips.
Ranked ninth is Margherita Missoni, pregnant with her first child, while model Eva Herzigová follows for tenth place thanks to her downtown and “decidedly un-dowdy” maternity wear.
Vanity Fair’s Top 10 Best-Dressed Pregnant Ladies 2013:
1. Kate Middleton
2. Hilaria Baldwin
3. Peaches Geldof
4. Halle Berry
5. Penelope Cruz
6. Elaine Irwin
7. Romalo Garai
8. Lara Stone
9. Margherita Missoni
10. Eva Herzigova
Kate Middleton and Kim Kardashian are two of the most glamorous women in the world and each will give birth to her first child in July.
But…When it comes to maternity style any similarities between the royal and the reality star ends there.
Kate Middleton and Kim Kardashian are two of the most glamorous women in the world and each will give birth to her first child in July
Kate Middleton, 31, has always been the epitome of elegance and at six months is still svelte, with a barely-visible Royal bump. She has also stayed loyal to her classic dress style, favoring demure wrap dresses and beautifully tailored coats.
Kim Kardashian, 32, appears to have taken it less easily in her high-heeled stride.
The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star, who is expecting her first baby from rapper Kanye West, always favored fitted outfits which flaunt her curves. Now Kim Kardashian has tried a more subdued style and the result is meltdown.
In ill-fitting shifts, skirts and skyscraper heels, Kim Kardashian looks mumsy and clumsy.
Up to now… Kim Kardashian so badly lost out to Kate Middleton in the battle of the bumps.
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Kate Middleton is already six months pregnant but she appears to be almost as slim as ever, with the merest hint of a baby bump.
The Duchess of Cambridge looked slim as she played basketball and table tennis as she visited a homeless shelter in Glasgow this week with Prince William.
Dressed in a chic tartan coat and her trademark black suede boots, Kate Middleton was unusually happy to reveal details about her condition saying she plans to go on maternity leave from her royal duties from “around June time”.
Kate Middleton is already six months pregnant but she appears to be almost as slim as ever, with the merest hint of a baby bump
The duchess, who is six months’ pregnant, also revealed that her due date is “around mid-July” – a slightly more precise hint than the official announcement.
St James’s Palace has previously only confirmed the royal couple’s baby will be born “in July”, with officials refusing to give the exact due date.
Kate Middleton, 31, also said that she and Prince William had drawn up a list of boys’ and girls’ names for their first child – and that she has taken up knitting. “I’ve been trying to knit and I’m really bad. I should be asking for tips,” the duchess said.
When Rachel Sawyer, a project manager at Glasgow shelter, asked when her due date was and if she had any names, Kate Middleton replied: “It’s around mid-July but apparently babies have their own agenda …
“We have a shortlist for both [boy and girl] but it’s very difficult. My friends keep texting me names.”
When asked if she had got her nursery ready, Kate Middleton smiled and said: “No… we have got a lot to do!”
During the visit, the duchess also got an unusual insight into being a mother – from an eight-month-old baby with a taste for flowers. Kate Middleton chatted to Heidi Addison and her mother Shirley, who had a bouquet of flowers to give to the duchess, while they were in a crowd outside a sports centre.
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Heidi Agan, a former waitress from Corby, Northamptonshire, UK, who swapped her £6-per-hour job to become a £650-per-appearance Kate Middleton lookalike, has “become pregnant” to maintain accuracy.
Heidi Agan, a 32 year-old single mother-of-two, now has a “bump made in various sizes”.
She quit her job at a Kettering restaurant last May after customers repeatedly said she looked like Kate Middleton.
Heidi Agan now travels across the UK and around the world to make appearances as a royal doppelganger.
“To have done 12 years of something you know and then to leap into an industry that gives with one hand and takes with another is difficult, but I’m just really happy and feel blessed that I did,” Heidi Agan said.
Since the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William announced their forthcoming baby, lookalike Heidi Agan has now prepared to appear with child.
“As Kate grows I will too – to be authentic I thought it was important,” she said.
“It’s difficult at the moment as she’s not big enough yet to change her entire wardrobe so it’s difficult to see how she’s’ going to dress it.”
Kate Middleton lookalike Heidi Agan has “become pregnant” to maintain accuracy
Since taking the showbiz plunge Heidi Agan has made regular television, radio, corporate and newspaper appearances as the duchess.
“I did the Alan Titchmarsh Show and everywhere you turned there was another celebrity,” Heidi said.
“You just have to pinch yourself as I can’t believe it’s happened.
“It was the same in New York. I went to Times Square with Good Morning America and was ferried around with security.
“It’s just something I never thought would happen to me, but has turned out to be the most wonderful thing ever.”
Heidi Agan follows social media news about Kate Middleton to ensure her own wardrobe matches the duchess’, and practices “her look” daily.
“The most expensive shoes I’ve bought as Kate were about £200, the dress was about £300 – which I don’t think is that bad considering her original evening wedding dress by Alexander McQueen would have cost tens of thousands of pounds.
“I have to get the clothes, the mannerisms, the way she stands and interacts with William right. Things like that are all very important if I want to be the best.”
Heidi Agan said her children, aged 11 and 4, are “proud” of what she’s doing.
“It’s just been incredible and I feel so blessed with it and without the support of my family I just couldn’t do it,” she said.
“Appearing as Kate has given me the opportunity to spend more time with my own children than if I was doing my waitressing job and that’s priceless.”
Heidi Agan refused to be drawn on who she found most attractive between the royal brothers.
“I don’t think either William or Harry are my type, they are too tall… is that diplomatic enough?” she said.
People in Corby were treated to a “royal appearance” on Saturday when Heidi Agan appeared for an event in the town’s Corporation Street.
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Kate Middleton’s shoe became stuck when standing on a grate as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attend a St Patrick’s Day parade today.
Prince William was on hand to help his pregnant wife – but could not help having a little laugh as she tried to retrieve her shoe.
The amusing scene was completed by the soldier continuing to salute the Royal couple as Kate Middleton had to bend down to force her heel from the grate.
Dressed in the same green Emilia Wickstead dress coat she wore to the event last year, Kate Middleton smiled broadly as she greeted soldiers from the 1st Battalion Irish Guards at Mons Barracks in Aldershot, Hampshire.
Kate Middleton’s heel became stuck when standing on a grate as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attend a St Patrick’s Day parade
The Duchess’ bump could only occasionally be seen under the coat – which was an appropriate color for the occasion.Under grey skies, pregnant Kate Middleton took her position next to Prince William on a podium which offered them cover from the rain.
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Famously discreet Kate Middleton may have dropped her guard a little on a walkabout yesterday.
According to one member of the crowd, Kate Middleton, who is five months pregnant, appeared to hint she might be having a baby girl.
Sandra Cook, 67, was among the 2,000 wellwishers who greeted Kate Middleton on her visit to Grimsby.
She said: “The lady next to me gave her a teddy bear and I distinctly heard her say <<Thank you, I will take that for my d….>>.
“Then she stopped herself. I leant over and said to her: <<You were going to say daughter, weren’t you?>> She said: <<No, we don’t know!>> I said: <<Oh, I think you do>> to which she replied: <<We’re not telling!>>
“I have been here since 10 a.m. and it was worth every cold minute of the wait to see her. She is just beautiful and so lovely and friendly.”
Kate Middleton, who is five months pregnant, appeared to hint she might be having a baby girl
Diana Burton, 41, who gave the Duchess a teddy, was too shell-shocked to recall the conversation. But Sandra Cook, who works in a local charity shop and lives in Grimsby, was adamant about what she heard.
“I only hope that she doesn’t now give birth to a boy or I’m going to look pretty stupid,” she said.
“But she definitely said <<d——>>.”
St James’s Palace did not comment on the matter, although royal sources insisted Kate Middleton and Prince William had not yet found out the sex of the baby, which is due in July.
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Kate Middleton dazzles on the red carpet in an array of glamorous designer dresses but she is also known to like a high street bargain or two.
The Duchess of Cambridge, 31, has long championed the likes of Zara and Reiss and her outfit choices have sparked multiple sales booms.
And now, Kate Middleton, who is expecting her first child with husband Prince William in July, has hit the high street once more – this time to dress the Royal bump.
Kate Middleton was spotted browsing the maternity racks at high street store Topshop during a shopping spree in London.
A fellow shopper tweeted: “Oh Just an average day, Kate Middleton smiled at me! 🙂 oh best bit… This was in Topshop! Truly Beautiful :).”
Layla Maan, a Business Development Manager, said: “She really is stunning up close.
“I am still in shock! I had to sit down after.
“She was just browsing next to me and then was shortly in personal shopping area which I usually am in but they had security there.”
Kate Middleton dazzles on the red carpet in an array of glamorous designer dresses but she is also known to like a high street bargain or two
Kate Middleton wore her hair in a bouncy ponytail, with her trademark pearl earrings and casual black leggings.
She swapped her court shoes for flat boots and wrapped up warm with a short fur trimmed brown jacket.
In January, Kate Middleton was spotted in another high street store, Gap, on the hunt for some maternity jeans.
Happy as Kate Middleton may be to shop on the high street, Alexander McQueen’s Sarah Burton – the designer behind the duchess’s wedding gown for her 2011 nuptials – recently revealed wants to design maternity wear for Kate.
When asked if she would be making any maternity clothes for Kate Middleton, the acclaimed designer said: “I hope I will be.”
There’s a world of difference between Delia Smith and Pippa Middleton when it comes to tips about food, but that hasn’t stopped Waitrose ditching the former and giving the latter her own column in its magazine.
Pippa’s Friday Night Feasts will advise on the best meals to start the weekend off with friends.
“It will be an exciting opportunity to share my own passion and enthusiasm for food and entertaining,” said Pippa Middleton, 29.
A picture of a beaming Pippa Middleton features on the front cover of the latest edition of the Waitrose Kitchen magazine.
She said: “I’m delighted to be writing for Waitrose Kitchen, a magazine that’s always been a source of inspiration to me.”
Editor William Sitwell said his latest signing would be “an excellent contributor…bringing with her a wealth of experience of entertaining”.
He added: “Readers will love her relaxed and easy entertaining ideas which will help with the preparation for all sorts of occasions.”
The company refused to issue a copy of the first column due out on March 28.
However, if Pippa Middleton’s book Celebrate is anything to go by readers can expect such illuminating advice as having a bonfire on Bonfire Night and serving pumpkin soup in a hollowed-out pumpkin at Halloween.
The decision by Waitrose to drop Delia Smith earlier this year was met with uproar among many of its customers, who have relied on her cooking know-how for decades.
Pippa Middleton gets food column in Waitrose Kitchen magazine
The deal with Waitrose follows further evidence of how the Middletons appear to be cashing in on their association with the Royal Family.
In December, only weeks after the announcement that the Duchess of Cambridge is expecting her first child, the Middletons’ Party Pieces website presented a range of baby goods.
The “Little Prince” and “Little Princess” party packs are described as suitable for American-style baby showers.
Last year, the website set up by Pippa and Kate Middleton’s mother Carole in 1987, offered paraphernalia themed around the Royal Wedding and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
Shoppers will have to pay £1.20 ($1.9) a month for a copy of the Waitrose magazine if they want to discover Pippa Middelton’s advice on feasting, although it is free to those with Waitrose and John Lewis cards.
The column on the magazine appears to be part of a PR strategy to create a Pippa Middleton brand.
She has started using her name and photograph to promote the products sold on the Party Pieces website.
This significant move to boost Pippa Middleton’s own profile occurred in between her holidaying in Mustique with stockbroker Nico Jackson, 35, and then taking off on a skiing trip with him in Zermatt.
British author Hilary Mantel, a double Booker Prize winner, whose latest books are set in the Tudor court, dismissed Kate Middleton as a “machine-made” princess, “designed by committee”.
Hilary Mantel, 60, compared Kate Middleton unfavorably to both Anne Boleyn – one of her historical heroines – and to Princess Diana, insisting both had more personality.
The author said Kate Middleton had gone from being a “jointed doll on which certain rags are hung” to a woman whose “only point and purpose” was to give birth.
Hilary Mantel said the Duchess of Cambridge “appeared to have been designed by a committee and built by craftsmen, with a perfect plastic smile and the spindles of her limbs hand-turned and gloss-varnished”.
Now British PM David Cameron, while on a trip to India, has reportedly waded into the row to support Kate Middleton.
David Cameron said that Hilary Martel is “a great writer” but described her comments on the Duchess as “a hurtful thing to say”, according to reports.
He described the comments about Kate Middleton as “completely misguided and completely wrong”.
The head of a charity supported by the Duchess of Cambridge has hit back at Hilary Mantel’s extraordinary attack on her, saying she is an “intelligent” woman who is proving to be a huge asset to the causes she backs.
Nick Barton, chief executive of Action on Addiction, said the Booker prize-winning author was entirely wrong to characterize Kate Middleton as a clothes horse whose only purpose was to give birth.
Kate Middleton, who is almost halfway through her pregnancy, carried out her first official engagement of the year this morning when she visited Hope House, a 22-bed residential facility for women from all over the country to get over addictions to drugs and alcohol.
Hilary Mantel attacks Kate Middleton branding her a plastic princess
Action on Addiction is one of five charities of which the Duchess is patron, and she spent her time there speaking to women who are in recovery and congratulating those who are on the road back to sobriety.
Her visit came after the lecture, where Hilary Mantel said Kate Middleton was quite unlike Anne Boleyn, who was “a power player, a clever and determined woman”.
Hilary Mantel contrasted the Duchess’ appearance to Prince William’s mother, Diana, “whose human awkwardness and emotional incontinence showed in her every gesture”.
Hilary Mantel, the author of Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies, the acclaimed novels which detail the failure of Henry VIII’s wives to produce an heir, used a lecture to examine the prospects for the future queen consort.
The author said that when she first saw Kate Middleton, she struck her as “a shop-window mannequin, with no personality of her own, entirely defined by what she wore”.
Prince William’s wife-to-be was as “painfully thin as anyone could wish, without quirks, without oddities, without the risk of the emergence of character”.
Hilary Mantel added: “Presumably Kate was designed to breed in some manners.
“She looks like a nicely brought up young lady, with <<please>> and <<thank you>> part of her vocabulary.”
Hilary Mantel also spoke of Kate Middleton’s appearance in her first official portrait since marrying Prince William, painted by Paul Emsley, which was unveiled last month.
She said: “Her eyes are dead and she wears the strained smile of a woman who really wants to tell the painter to bugger off.”
Hilary Mantel went on to say that female Royals were “at the most basic… breeding stock, collections of organs”.
St James’s Palace last week criticized a magazine for printing pictures of Kate Middleton’s baby bump taken during a break on the Caribbean island of Mustique.
And they were furious last year when pictures of her topless on holiday were printed in Italy – saying “a red line had been crossed”.
But Hilary Mantel suggested Kate Middleton could have few complaints about private pictures of her being taken on holiday – observing: “The royal body exists to be looked at.”
“Some people find them endearing; some pity them for their precarious situation; everybody stares at them, and however airy the enclosure they inhabit, it’s still a cage.”
Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, said Mantel’s comments were unfair.
Hilary Mantel studied law at LSE and Sheffield University, before becoming a novelist.
She is author of more than a dozen books, including Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies, the first two parts of a trilogy about King Henry VIII’s adviser Thomas Cromwell, both of which won the Man Booker Prize.
Kate Middleton and Prince William faced fresh anguish over privacy today after Italian and Australian magazines published photographs of the pregnant duchess in a bikini and more publications round the world lined up to do the same.
Palace sources condemned the “violating” pictures, which show the couple walking along a beach while holidaying on the secluded Caribbean island of Mustique.
Chi magazine, which caused outrage when it published a photograph of Princess Diana as she lay dying, splashed pictures of Kate Middleton and her growing baby bump across its front page.
Australian magazine Woman’s Day has also printed the pictures, as well as photographs of Kate Middleton’s sister Pippa in a bikini, claiming they were taken by a member of the public on a public beach.
Editor Fiona Connolly said the royal couple are not a ‘protected species’ outside Britain adding: “This is not a hard decision. Kate’s on a public beach, there are other holiday-makers there and she looks fabulous.”
However, Mustique is a private island and there is an expectation of privacy for anyone holidaying there because the paparazzi is banned.
Kate Middleton, who is about four months pregnant, is wearing a bright blue halter-neck bikini with her slightly rounded stomach clearly visible.
Her arm is draped over her husband’s shoulders while Prince William, who is wearing blue baggy shorts and sunglasses, has an arm protectively around his wife’s back.
Chi magazine, which caused outrage when it published a photograph of Princess Diana as she lay dying, splashed pictures of Kate Middleton and her growing baby bump across its front page
The headline on the front of Chi magazine, which goes on sale today, reads: “Kate and William – honeymoon for three.”
Woman’s Day editor Fiona Connolly said she had no qualms about running the pictures, insisting they were taken by a fellow tourist on Mustique – and not a paparazzo.
They have published a poster today showing pictures of Kate Middleton to promote their next edition, which is out on Monday.
“She is on a public beach and she was mingling with holiday makers,” she said.
“There is no photographer hiding in the bushes and she is not inside a private villa,” said Fiona Connolly.
St James’s Palace has angrily hit out at the impending publication of the photos in Europe as “a clear breach of the couple’s privacy”.
But Fiona Connolly said Australians did not view the royal family as a “protected species” like the British.
“The British have a great deal more sensitivity to royals than we do here in Oz,” she said.
“As Australians, we see this every day. We see pregnant women in bikinis on the beach – and a public one at that – so we are a lot less sensitive here.
“Our readers are going to love these photos. I don’t expect any backlash at all really. I think she’s looking fabulous and healthy and (with) a beautiful bump, like we haven’t seen her before.”
Australian DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian, who made a hoax call to the UK hospital treating Kate Middleton, will not face charges, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said.
Mel Greig and Michael Christian phoned the King Edward VII’s Hospital pretending to be members of the Royal Family asking about Kate Middleton’s treatment for severe morning sickness.
Nurse Jacintha Saldanha was found dead three days after taking the call.
The CPS said there was no evidence to support a charge of manslaughter.
Although it said that there was some evidence to warrant further investigation of offences under the Data Protection Act, the Malicious Communications Act 1988 and the Communications Act 2003, it added that this would not take place as any potential prosecution would not be in the public interest.
Australian DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian, who made a hoax call to the UK hospital treating Kate Middleton, will not face charges
Malcolm McHaffie, deputy head of special crime at the CPS, said a number of issues had been taken into account in reaching its conclusion.
“It is not possible to extradite individuals from Australia in respect of the potential offences in question. However misguided, the telephone call was intended as a harmless prank,” he said.
“The consequences in this case were very sad. We send our sincere condolences to Jacintha Saldanha’s family.”
Last December, the pair, posing as the Queen and Prince of Wales, tricked Jacintha Saldanha into transferring the call to a colleague who then described Catherine’s condition in detail.
Jacintha Saldanha was found hanged in nurses accommodation close to the hospital, after apparently taking her own life.
Kate Middleton had been admitted to hospital suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum, acute morning sickness.
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2Day FM’s Hot 30 programme, the Australian radio show that made the hoax call to the hospital treating pregnant Kate Middleton in December, has been cancelled.
2Day FM’s Hot 30 programme had been taken off air following the death of nurse Jacintha Saldana, who was found hanged after forwarding the call.
The broadcaster said a new show, hosted by a different DJ, would fill the slot.
Michael Christian and Mel Greig, the DJs who made the call, were still employed by the station, it added.
The pair have been on leave since the incident and a music-based show without a host DJ has been broadcast in their show’s place.
“We look forward to Mel and MC returning to work when the time is right, in roles that make full use of their talents,” said Rhys Holleran of Southern Cross Austereo, owner of 2Day FM.
“We will discuss future roles with them when they are ready.”
2Day FM’s Hot 30 programme, the Australian radio show that made the hoax call to the hospital treating pregnant Kate Middleton in December, has been cancelled
Kate Middleton was being treated at King Edward VII’s Hospital for an extreme form of morning sickness when Michael Christian and Mel Greig made their prank call pretending to be members of the Royal Family.
Jacintha Saldana answered the call and put them through to another nurse who gave an update on Kate Middleton’s condition.
Jacintha Saldana was found hanged at her home three days later.
Last month the Australian media watchdog launched a formal inquiry to examine whether any broadcasting rules had been breached.
2Day FM also pledged to give at least 500,000 Australian dollars from its advertising profits to the family of Jacintha Saldana.
Bookmaker Ladbrokes is offering odds of 50/1 that Kate Middleton and Kim Kardashian will give birth on the same day after St James’s Palace confirmed today that the Royal baby is due in July.
If they give birth in the same week the odds are slashed to 7/1, and if Kate Middleton’s baby arrives first punters can expect odds of 6/1 (until Kim Kardashian announces her birth date).
Paddy Power is offering better odds on the famous mothers “doing the double” at 66/1 and a spokesman for the bookmakers said: “If both Kate and Kim do the double the world’s media will have a baby bonanza on their hands and a right royal fight will be had over those all-important first pictures.
“It’s altogether more likely though that Kate will reign supreme in a solo effort and that we’ll all be wetting the baby’s head sometime late July.”
A spokesman for Ladbrokes adds: “As the two of the most popular women in the world all eyes are on Kim and Kate until July but we fancy Kate to start pushing first!”
The palace has also confirmed that the couple are not expecting twins, as first speculated following Kate’s hospitalization for severe morning sickness in the earlier stages of the pregnancy.
“Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are delighted to confirm they are expecting a baby in July,” a St James’s Palace spokesman said this morning.
Kate Middleton is now believed to be 13-14 weeks pregnant.
Meanwhile Kim Kardashian and her boyfriend Kanye West are keeping mum about the arrival date of their first child and Kim has started to choose looser outfits in place of her signature bodycon dresses.
Bookmaker Ladbrokes is offering odds of 50 to 1 that Kate Middleton and Kim Kardashian will give birth on the same day
Kim Kardashian, 32, is convinced she is having a girl though and has reportedly already named her “Liv”.
Elsewhere excitement amongst punters over the royal baby has left one bookmaker counting the cost.
William Hill has said it has taken a hit after the announcement today.
July had been the even money favorite with the firm and its odds now suggest that the baby could be born in the third or fourth week of that month – both offered at 9/4.
A spokesman for William Hill said: “The royal baby is starting to cost us a small fortune, we have already paid out on the year and now the month that the baby will be born.
“We can only hope that they don’t have a baby with ginger hair as that would break the bank.”
Punters are now likely to place a flurry of bets trying to guess which name Prince William and Kate Middleton will choose for their baby.
Amongst the favorites with William Hill are George, Victoria and Diana, all 10/1, followed by Elizabeth 12/1 and Charles, John and Phillip, all 14/1.
Whichever name is chosen is likely to spark a new trend for that moniker.
The bookmaker is offering odds of 4/6 for a caesarean birth and 11/10 for natural. For the baby’s gender the odds are 10/11, for male or female.
Royal fans can even bet on hair color – brown 6/4, blonde 2/1, black 7/2 and ginger 4/1, shortened from 8/1.
Paddy Power is offering odds of 66/1 that Kate Middleton and reality TV star Kim Kardashian will give birth on the same day.
A spokesman for the bookmakers said: “If both Kate and Kim do the double, the world’s media will have a baby bonanza on their hands and a right royal fight will be had over those all-important first pictures.”
Rather than sharing a designer bag named after Pippa herself, Carole Middleton and her daughter Pippa both have their own version of Modalu handbag.
And either they aren’t ashamed to commit the fashion faux pas of looking identical – or didn’t liaise on how the other was accessorizing before leaving the house – as they both stepped out together carrying their Modalu bags today.
Carole and Pippa Middleton carried black versions of the “Pippa Grab” with gold detailing as they visited the National Portrait Gallery to see the unveiling of the official portrait of the Duchess of Cambridge.
The only difference was that Pippa Middleton’s bag had a mock crocodile skin effect. The bag is available to buy in various colors at a cost of £195 ($310) from Modalu’s website and retailers including John Lewis. A smaller version is also available for £169 ($270).
Rather than sharing a designer bag named after Pippa herself, Carole Middleton and her daughter Pippa both have their own version of Modalu handbag
Pippa Middleton, 29, was first seen carrying a grey style of the bag by the then little-known designers Modalu the day after the Royal Wedding. The brand were keen to capitalize on the new-found fame of Kate Middleton’ sibling, who was propelled into the spotlight thanks to her tightly-fitted bridesmaid gown, and re-issued the bag as the “Pippa”.
Today, Pippa Middleton teamed the bag with her outfit choice of a purple wrap coat and black Russell and Bromley boots. Meanwhile, Carole Middleton, 57, wore a black skirt and top under a blue jacket and kept out the chill with a black scarf.
The first official painting of the Duchess of Cambridge has been unveiled this morning and provoked a dismayed reaction.
It was painted by the artist Paul Emsley and took several months using a technique of building thin layers of oil and glazes on canvas.
Kate Middleton sat for the artist twice. Paul Emsley also worked from a series of photographs he took of Catherine.
The portrait is due to go on show on Friday afternoon at London’s National Portrait Gallery, of which the duchess is patron.
Paul Emsley was chosen to paint the portrait by the gallery’s director, Sandy Nairne. Kate Middleton, who studied history of art at St Andrews University, was also involved in the selection process.
Kate Middleton, 31, whose pregnancy was announced by the Royal Family last month, sat for the artist in May 2012 at his studio, and again in June at Kensington Palace.
Paul Emsley said she had expressed a desire to be portrayed as her natural self, rather than her official self.
The artist described his work as simple.
“I don’t have lots of things in the background. I do like large faces, I find them strong and contemporary,” he said.
“I’m interested in the landscape of the face, the way in which light and shadow fall across the forms. That’s really my subject matter.
“To have anything else in there is really just an interference.”
The artist’s other subjects have included the former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, and the author V S Naipaul. In 2007 Paul Emsley won the BP Portrait Award for his depiction of fellow artist, Michael Simpson.
Paul Emsley said it was easier to work from photographs.
“I’m always worried about the sitter – are they cold, are they hot, are they comfortable?” he said.
“Photography today is so accurate and so good that it’s really so much easier just to take photographs and work from them.”
Originally Paul Emsley had planned to produce an unsmiling portrait. But on meeting the duchess he changed his mind.
“I think it was the right choice in the end to have her smiling. That’s really who she is, I think,” he said.
He also knew he wanted to make a feature of Kate Middleton’s hair.
“Everyone, I think, recognizes her partly through her lovely hair,” he said.
“I’ve altered the color of the eyes slightly to match the color of the blouse and the blue background.”
The painting took three-and-a-half months to complete and was presented to the portrait gallery’s trustees in November.
The first official painting of Kate Middleton has been unveiled this morning at London’s National Portrait Gallery
Sandy Nairne said it was an “exciting moment” to display the first commissioned public portrait of the duchess.
He added that she was grateful to the duchess for giving up her time for the sittings and to Paul Emsley for creating a “captivating contemporary image”.
The portrait, called HRH The Duchess of Cambridge, will be displayed as part of the National Portrait Gallery’s Contemporary Collections.
Critics slammed the “rotten” picture by Paul Emsley after it was unveiled at London’s National Portrait Gallery, saying it looked “nothing like Kate in real life”.
Sunday Times art critic Waldemar Januszczak called the portrait “pretty ordinary… He made her look older than she is and her eyes don’t sparkle in the way that they do and there’s something rather dour about the face”.
Paul Emsley- who is famous for dividing opinion with his extraordinarily realistic, almost “photographic” style – was commissioned by the gallery after Kate Middleton chose him from a shortlist.
Kate Middleton and husband Prince William visited the gallery early this morning ahead of a public viewing, and she was said to be “thrilled” with the results of her latest royal rite of passage.
Since joining the Royal Family Kate Middleton has become one of the most scrutinized women on the planet – and her portrait is sure to cause controversy.
Robin Simon, editor of the British Art Journal, said today: “Fortunately, the Duchess of Cambridge looks nothing like this in real life.
“I’m really sad to say this is a rotten portrait.”
The head and shoulders portrait shows the Duchess, who celebrated her 31st birthday on Wednesday, staring directly out of the picture with a “serious but serene” expression on her face.
Kate Middleton is wearing a bottle-green pussy bow blouse imagined by the artist and a pair of earrings that were a wedding gift.
Paul Emsley, who has also painted Nelson Mandela, was apparently keen to capture her “charm, serenity and intelligence” as well as her “sparkling green eyes”.
At first glance the Duchess, who celebrated her 31st birthday this week, looks far older than her years.
There are shadows and creases under her eyes while her famous brunette locks have a strangely coppery tinge to them.
Her mouth is set in a grimace rather than the promised enigmatic smile.
Paul Emsley had said: “The Duchess explained to me that she would like to be portrayed naturally – her natural self as opposed to her official self. She struck me as enormously open and generous and a very warm person.
“After initially feeling it was going to be an unsmiling portrait, I think it was the right choice in the end to have her smiling – that is really who she is.”
Kate, Prince William and the entire Middleton family – Carole, Michael, James and Pippa – went for a private viewing of the portrait this morning before it was publicly unveiled.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were first to congratulate the artist on his work.
“I thought it was brilliant,” said Kate Middleton, who showed no sign of her 12-week bump in a deep red Whistles dress.
“It’s just amazing. Absolutely brilliant.”
Kate Middleton spent 10 minutes studying the portrait before gesturing with her hands, indicating that she was particularly pleased with the way he had captured her around her mouth and nose.
“Thank you,” added the polite royal, who met the 65-year-old artist with his wife Susanne and one of his daughters, Maria, in a separate room after viewing the portrait privately away from him.
“I had such a fun day at the studio,” Kate Middleton told Maria.
Prince William, wearing a dark suit, was equally enthusiastic.
“It’s beautiful. Absolutely beautiful,” he told Paul Emsley.
The Duchess is patron of the NPG in London, which has been keen to commission a picture of her for some time.
The gallery drew up a shortlist of four potential painters and Kate Middleton, who graduated from St Andrew’s University with a 2:1 in history of art, personally plumped for Paul Emsley.
Her portrait is situated in Room 37, next to a famous installation showing a video of a sleeping semi-naked David Beckham. It has been donated to the gallery by supporter Sir Hugh Legatt.
It is the same ground-floor gallery that holds a picture in oils of her husband Prince William and his younger brother, Prince Harry, which was unveiled there in 2010.
The two princes posed in full military regalia for artist Nicky Philipps for their first official depiction.
Prince Harry later joked that he was “a little too ginger and William had way too much hair” but declared himself otherwise pretty pleased with the result.
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