Are the Waleses Skiing? Plus a Monday Memory

Kate had feminine-colored paint samples delivered to Anmer Hall

The Wales children have been on a school break since March 27th. They won’t go back until the start of the Summer Term on April 24th. I suspect the family is skiing. Historically, late March/early April (during school break) has been primetime for the family to ski. That said, they did (allegedly) go skiing already once this year. The Daily Mail reported in January that Kate and her family slipped away for a New Year’s trip to the Alps to celebrate Kate’s birthday. You can ski more than once in a season, so I would not be shocked if that’s what they are doing.

Alternatively, Kate did make those comments on St. Patrick’s Day about finding time to visit various places in the family’s private time, so perhaps—having already been skiing once this year—the family is exploring a new locale or an old favorite. We will see if anyone gets the scoop on the Waleses’ activities over the next several weeks.

In the meantime, I want to look back today at Kate’s final engagement before she went on maternity leave in 2015. On March 27, 2015, a beaming Princess Kate—accompanied by William—undertook her final engagement before taking maternity leave. The two were out and about on a series of engagements in South London for charities that focused on youth development.

Kate recycled the “cerise” pink coat by Mulberry that she had worn earlier in her pregnancy in New York City. She was wearing her “Power” pumps from Stuart Weitzman and carrying her Mulberry Bayswater clutch. She added the perfect sparkle with pink morganite drops from Kiki McDonough.

At the time, I remember everyone was speculating if this pink-heavy ensemble was a tip of the hat to the gender of Kate’s baby. Later that month, a story circulated that Kate had had “feminine-colored” paint samples from Oxford interior design company Annie Sloan sent to Anmer Hall. According to reports at the time, the paint samples were reportedly “Henrietta, a ‘beautiful rich complex pink with a hint of lilac’, Antoinette, a ‘soft pale pink with a hint of brown’, reminiscent of ‘old-fashioned roses and the colour of old plaster’ and Emile, a ‘warm soft aubergine colour with pink red undertones’.”

The three colors

Over a month later, of course, we learned that Kate’s baby was, indeed, a little princess.

I loved this ensemble, which was so bright, cheerful and feminine, and I love looking back at this time period. Waiting for the royals babies was really a super-charged time in royal watching. Of course, watching the babies grow is also exciting and so much fun, too.

If you can remember back to this engagement, were you betting the baby would be a girl? Or did you think we were getting false signals?