Standing in for Prince Charles at the last minute, Kate carried out her first solo engagement — hosting a charity dinner for 30 people — with poise and ease.  Oh, and on the side, she looked absolutely fantastic!

The Duchess of Cambridge stands in for Prince Charles on her first solo official function

With only 24 hours’ notice, the Duchess of Cambridge represented her father-in-law at a dinner for the charity In Kind Direct, because he was suddenly called to Riyadh to pay his respects to the Saudi Arabian Royal Family following the death of the Crown Prince.Guests at the dinner, held at Clarence House, were informed that Charles was sorry to miss the dinner but was sending his “darling daughter-in-law.” (How sweet of him!) Some sources say he had asked both William & Kate, but William was unable to join due to his RAF duties.

So Kate steps in… and surprises the royal watching world for going solo much earlier than anticipated (we expected next year).  She wore an aqua Amanda Wakeley gown that showed a little bit more skin than we’re used to.  Her hair was half-up, half-down.  She looked sensational!

“You would never know it was her first solo engagement. It was as if she had been trained by the Prince of Wales,” the charity’s chief executive Robin Boles says. “She was completely natural, professional and charmed everyone. She spoke to every single guest and was genuinely interested, and interested in continuing to help.”

“She was unbelievable. It was as if she had been doing this her whole life. She charmed every person in the room. I took her round and she spoke to everyone. She is as lovely as she is beautiful. She hadn’t known about In Kind Direct but she was already willing to be an advocate for our work.”

In Kind Direct was founded by Charles to encourage companies to donate surplus goods to charities, either for use by them or for their charitable work.

“She said she had already called her mum to tell her about us in case Party Pieces [the family's children's party company] had surplus products.”

Adds a Palace aide: “She was so pleased that her first solo engagement was for the Prince of Wales, who has shown her so much support over the years.”

Articles: The Standard | People | Mirror

Two “side plots” evolved around Kate’s first solo engagement: (1) revelation that she has a childhood surgical scar in her left temple, and (2) survival from the first pregnancy rumour.

Childhood Scar. What’s that 3-inch line on Kate’s head?  Her half-up, half-down do revealed a white line that prompted the Daily Mail (rather insensitively & irresponsively) to call out that she was wearing hair strip extensions to give it more volume.  Clarence House clarified this.  No, they were not hair extensions.  The line on Kate’s left temple is in fact an old scar from a “serious childhood operation.”  Some reports say it was a childhood injury that resulted in an operation.  Either way, glad to see that Kate survived that.  Head/brain surgeries are always delicate as they run the risk of permanent damage.  To match, Prince William also has a scar  in his left forehead — sustained from a golf club at the age of 13.  What are the chances of that?!!  (Article)

Pregnancy Rumour. The US tabs have been throwing nonsense pregnancy stories for months, but yesterday, UK’s royal reporters went into a tizzy for the first time.  The source? Photog Niraj Tanna, or @IkonPictures in Twitter, who said his source (who “has never been wrong”)  has told him that William & Kate are expecting their first child.  After other royal reporters mentioned the editors’ code of conduct of not speculating on pregnancies until it’s announced, and waiting for at least 3 months before even speculating, @IkonPictures deleted his tweets.  Besides, judging from the pictures last night, Kate definitely did NOT look pregnant.  It would be brilliant if the rumour turned out to be true, but for now, I suspect it’s just the first of many pregnancy false alarms.

Next Up for Willliam & Kate:

 

 

 

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