On Tuesday afternoon, Kate Middleton returned from maternity leave (opens in new tab) after taking a six-month break from public engagements. For her first event, the Duchess of Cambridge visited the Sayers Croft Forest School and Wildlife Garden (opens in new tab) at Paddington Recreation Ground. As expected, she dressed down in an army green jacket by Fjallraven (opens in new tab), a Joseph blouse (opens in new tab) layered under a green sweater, and Zara moto jeans. She wore her go-to Penelope Chilvers (opens in new tab) brown boots.
Kate's maternity leave time has varied with each child she had. After giving birth to Prince George on July 22, 2013, she was back to work in six weeks at a Ring O’ Fire Anglesey event. She took a longer break after the birth of Princess Charlotte on May 2, returning to work officially on September 17 when she visited the Anna Freud Centre in central London. The outfits she wore to each of these formal engagements semi-differed, too.
For the marathon event in 2013, Kate went for a more laidback look with an olive blazer, printed shirt, and jeans. She also wore a pair of wedge espadrilles, which Queen Elizabeth might have had (opens in new tab) opinions on. For the Anna Freud Centre visit, Kate wore a houndstooth print Ralph Lauren shirt dress and black pumps. It appeared Kate wanted to channel her more casual self, since this time she opted for jeans and a sweater—the perfect fall-friendly outfit.
Check out what Kate wore to each of her first, back-to-work public events after giving birth to her children.
On August 30, 2013, Kate Middleton attended her first public event since giving birth to Prince George. She joined Prince William at the Ring O’ Fire Anglesey event in Holyhead, Wales.
On September 17, 2015, Kate Middleton returned from her maternity to visit the Anna Freud Centre in central London. She gave birth to Princess Charlotte on May 2, which put her leave at around four months.
On Oct. 2, 2018, the Duchess of Cambridge visited the Sayers Croft Forest School and Wildlife Garden at Paddington Recreation Ground, London.
The looks compared:
Now that she's officially back in the spotlight, expect her to debut a mix of old and new pieces from her royal wardrobe. It'll be back to fancy skirt suits and coat dresses (opens in new tab) for this mum of three.
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