Kate Middleton was recycling the Whiteley Cappuccino hat that she wore to the National Review of Queen's Scouts held at Windsor Castle in Berkshire on Sunday. As the radiant royal stepped out for the annual event, astute fashion fans were quick to realise that the Duchess of Cambridge had worn the fawn pillbox hat on three previous occasions. In one of her first appearances since the royal wedding, Kate donned the asymmetrical number for the Epsom Derby, pairing it with a white Reiss dress and a Joseph tweed jacket.
June 2012 saw the hat resurface for another appearance when Kate, her husband Prince William and brother-in-law Prince Harry attended the wedding of their friends Emily McCorquodale and James Hutt in Grantham. The bride was the daughter of Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Princess Diana's sister. Kate, who is known for her thrifty wardrobe ways, chose the pillbox for yet another outing just one month after the wedding. The 31-year-old paired it with a lemon yellow coat as she watched her husband be installed into the historic Order of the Thistle in a ceremony at St. Giles Cathedral. While Kate's recycled hat got fashion fans talking as she stepped out on Sunday, it was another accessory that was the real star of the show – her baby bump. The brunette beauty dressed her burgeoning tummy in a mint green Mulberry coat that stops just short of the knee, with her trusty LK Bennett heels completing the look.
She was met by two young Scouts, clutching a bouquet of flowers, and Chief Scout Bear Grylls. In the grounds of Windsor Castle , where the Queen was in residence on her 87th birthday, the pregnant Duchess spent time talking to the excited visitors from both the UK and the Commonwealth. Kate, who is six months pregnant and fast approaching her July due date, also presented around 400 of the Queen's Scout awards. The scouts and their guests gathered in the castle's sunny Quadrangle, eagerly waiting to catch a glimpse of Kate, who was Brownie in her youth, and start the parade. In honour of Her Majesty the Queen's birthday the band of Irish Guards included a rendition of Happy Birthday in their musical programme. From the Quadrangle the crowds headed to St George's Chapel for the National Scout Service and then moved on to the Royal Mews.
