The Duchess of Cambridge stunned in red on Tuesday night as she attended the opening night of 42nd Street at the Theatre Royal in London, in aid of East Anglia Children’s Hospice (EACH)- the charity she has been a patron of since 2012. As she arrived at the event in central London, 12-year-old hospice patient Ollie Duell presented her with a programme. His evening was made complete when the Duchess bent over to chat to him. The starstruck little boy said of meeting her: “I feel very good about meeting Kate. She’s very pretty and I want to talk to her about the hospice and how I like going there. I also want to tell her about Pokemon.”
According to Ollie, Kate asked him what he liked about the hospice, and if he had ever been to the theatre before. The adorable little boy spoke of their conversation, saying: "I said the hospice was fun and I told her I'd never been before so I was excited."
Kate looked elegant in red as she attended a charity event in London
The show's co-producers Michael Grade and Michael Linnit went on to present Kate with golden tap shoes just before the final scene of the play, who told the audience: "We all would like to thank you all for the magnificent reception to our little show tonight. More specifically we would like to thank the Duchess of Cambridge for making our very special evening a very memorable occasion."
EACH supports families and cares for children and young people with life-threatening conditions. Their specialist services include nursing care, symptom management support, wellbeing activities, and therapy and counselling – all meeting the individual needs of the child or young person, and the whole family. The charity is currently fundraising for a new purpose-built hospice, The Nook, having outgrown their hospice at Quidenham in Norfolk.
The new building will help to provide more families with the same facilities as those offered by EACH hospices for Cambridgeshire, Essex and Suffolk.
While Kate, 35, has been balancing her role as a mum to Prince George and Princess Charlotte with her royal duties, the Duchess also had the chance to let her hair down last month. She attended her sister Pippa Middleton's hen do in France. The group opted for a low-key skiing break in Meribel. That same weekend, Prince William enjoyed a ski holiday with his close friends in Verbier, Switzerland.