Kate Middleton Wears Blue Emilia Wickstead Dress at Buckingham Palace

london, united kingdom october 7 prince william, duke of cambridge and catherine, duchess of cambridge meet ukraines president volodymyr zelensky and his wife olena during an audience at buckingham palace on october 7, 2020 in london, england the president is on a two day official visit to the uk photo by jonathan bradywpa poolgetty images

(Image credit: WPA Pool)

published 7 October 20

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are gradually returning to in-person royal work. On Wednesday, Prince William and Kate Middleton were joined by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (opens in new tab) and First Lady Olena Zelenska of Ukraine for an audience at Buckingham Palace. This marks the first royal engagement at the location since lockdown, the palace confirmed to PA Media (opens in new tab).

(Image credit: WPA Pool)

For the royal meeting, the duchess wore a cornflower blue, knit midi dress by Emilia Wickstead featuring an accent belt at the waist. She paired the frock with suede, nude pointed toe pumps and kept her hair in her signature flowing waves. She and Prince William held the audience on behalf of the queen (opens in new tab), a spokesperson confirmed. The sovereign is currently not taking in-person engagements (opens in new tab)at Buckingham Palace due to the pandemic.

Shades have blue have been a consistent theme for the Duchess of Cambridge's royal engagements recently. Just yesterday, she wore a pale blue sweater by Massimo Dutti with high-waist black trousers and an oversized checkered coat to meet college students (opens in new tab) at Derby University to discuss mental health amid the pandemic. The week prior, the duchess sported a light blue button-down shirt with a black vest, matching skinny jeans, and ankle boots when she was named the new joint President of The Scout Association (opens in new tab).

london, england september 29 catherine, duchess of cambridge toasts marshmallows during her visit to a scout group in northolt, northwest london where she joined cub and beaver scouts in outdoor activities on september 29, 2020 in london, england the duchess learned how the scouts have adapted during the covid 19 pandemic, and continued scouting sessions and online activities photo by daniel leal olivas wpa poolgetty images

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have prioritized speaking with local community members and business owners across the U.K. to discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected and altered their everyday lives. The royal couple have also launched a mental health initiative called Our Frontline (opens in new tab) and donated (opens in new tab) $2 million via The Royal Foundation to support emergency frontline workers currently fighting the global health crisis.

Bianca Betancourt

Bianca Betancourt is the Culture Editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com where she covers all things film, TV, music, and of course, Royal Family ongoings. When she's not writing she loves impulsively baking a batch of cookies, re-listening to the same early 2000s pop playlist and stalking Mariah Carey's Twitter feed.