Kate Middleton Shows Off Her Passion for Children’s Mental Health in a Pair of $10 Earrings

On Wednesday, Kate Middleton and Prince William went on their first joint engagement of the year, a visit to the Foundling Museum, a converted children’s home in London devoted to collecting the history of institutions that cared for abandoned children in the U.K., including a wing of art with paintings by British masters such as Thomas Gainsborough and William Hogarth. While there, they met with a group of young adults who had transitioned out of foster care and were training to provide support for children at the museum.

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Despite the historic and somber surroundings, Kate made headlines for debuting a new, darker brown dye job and wearing a simple, classic outfit. She wore a pair of earrings from Accessorize, a British affordable jewelry brand, which originally cost £7 (or about $9.50), along with trousers from department store Jigsaw and a luxurious blue wool coat, showing off her penchant for mixing high and low. The writers at What Kate Wore speculate that the subtle navy rollneck sweater she was wearing came from Zara.

Kate, who has become a leading voice for early childhood education and mental health in Britain, has previously visited the museum. On Wednesday’s visit, she and William joined a roundtable discussion with Olympic athlete Kriss Akabusi, poet Lemn Sissay, and food writer Allan Jenkins, who shared their experiences in foster care. According to the Telegraph, the duchess asked the panel, “From your experience what makes the difference between a young person succeeding after leaving foster care and when they do not?” They then discussed the importance of forming stable relationships, with William adding, “If you keep moving a child around when they are an adult their relationships are so short and shallow.” 

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Later on, they played a group bonding activity with the group of trainees at the museum, which involved drawing images on the ground. According to People, William’s drawings weren’t too lifelike and Kate was a little confused. She asked, “Is that me?” 

William laughed, and replied, “Yes, that’s you.”

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