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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Russell Myers & Jennifer Newton

Kate Middleton wears recycled dress for rare day out with Charles and Camilla

The Duchess of Cambridge joined Prince Charles and Camilla for a rare outing with her in-laws in London today.

Kate was invited by her father-in-law on the visit to Trinity Buoy Wharf, a centre in East London run by the Prince's Foundation, where traditional textile skills are taught.

For the outing, she wore a chic grey coat dress by Catherine Walker that she previously sported in 2019 during an engagement with the Queen at King's College, London. She also carried a black Mulberry bag.

Meanwhile, Camilla opted for a bottle green riding skirt and jacket with black boots and also carried a green Bvlgari handbag.

During the visit the royal trio looked at ease as they posed by the Thames against the backdrop of the O2 Arena and the London skyline.

It was a rare joint outing for the royal trio (Getty Images)

They then met students, who demonstrated their sewing machine skills and they even tried their hands at sewing a straight seam themselves.

Kate and Camilla spoke to two home schooled sisters who joined a scheme with the Prince’s Foundation last year to learn fashion design, with a view to gaining work experience in the textiles industry.

Soukayna and Safiya Ouhammou from Woodford, showed the Duchesses their designs for jumpers they are making as part of the course.

Kate wore a coat dress she previously wore on a visit with the Queen in 2019 (Getty Images)
Kate enjoys a chat with Camilla (PA)

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Soukayna, 15, said they started off by taking photographs on their phones of lily flowers on the river behind the centre, before sketching out their ideas that would lead to the design.

She added: “We started by thinking about our inspiration from the things around us, so I took some pictures when we went for a walk by the river and the lily looked so beautiful on the water.

“It gave me the idea to make a contrast of colours on the jumper which could be stitched together, one on top of the other.”

Kate chats to students on a visit to Trinity Buoy Wharf this morning (Getty Images)

Kate said: “It’s fascinating to see how the whole process works, it’s a great idea.”

After being shown the sewing machines to stitch the materials together, Camilla said: “You’re obviously very good at this. I did it so long ago but I’m very bad at it now.”

The royals also joined a life drawing class with the latest intake of students at the Foundation from September, although any potential blushes were spared as the model was fully clothed.

Speaking to Imogen Lewis, 19, from Suffolk, Camilla joked: “I think I’d rather be doing the drawing with you!

“It looks such fun. How long do you have to do it?”

Kate chats with her father-in-law Prince Charles (Getty Images)
Charles, Camilla and Kate meet a student in a pattern-cutting studio (Getty Images)

Kate's invitation to join the engagement is said to have been down to her "shared interest and longstanding support of the arts and creative industries”.

A royal aide said the visit was “especially significant” as it was believed to be only the second time Kate has joined Charles and Camilla on an engagement together.

In March 2012, Kate joined the couple for an engagement at the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London while Prince William was away in the Falklands on an RAF posting.

Kate chats to schoolchildren from Faraday Prep School (REUTERS)
Kate waves bye to the young pupils (REUTERS)

The last time she joined Charles and Camilla for a rare joint engagement was back in September when the trio, along with Prince William, attended the premiere of the James Bond movie No Time To Die.

And these rare joint engagements could become more and more common in the future, according to royal sources.

At the time, they told the Mirror that outing of Charles, Camilla, William and Kate could herald a "new era" of collaboration and solidarity between the future king and his eldest son and their wives.

Meanwhile, it has been a busy few days for Kate, who announced yesterday she has been given two new royal patronages.

She is now the patron of the English Rugby Football League and Rugby Football Union - two roles previously held by Prince Harry.

And to mark her new jobs, she paid a visit to Twickenham yesterday, when she tackled a rugby training session.

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