The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are back in London after spending almost 6 months at their country residence Anmer Hall in Sandringham. After settling down kids at their London home, where Prince George and Princess Charlotte are back in school, on Tuesday, William and Catherine stepped out together to meet the people from different communities who worked hard during the COVID-19 lockdown. It was their first joint engagement together after the summer break.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited communities, businesses and individuals in London Bridge and Whitechapel to thank those who have gone above and beyond to help others during this extraordinary time. During the visit, they heard about the challenges these communities have faced over the last six months and shone a light on individuals and businesses were on the frontline helping others.
Since the early days of the pandemic, we were wondering how it will impact the public life of the British Royal family. But The family has played its role excellently and led the country during a challenging time. Given the current situation, to keep the crowd minimum, today’s engagement was not announced beforehand. I believe most of the public engagements will remain embargoed for the near future. From Daily Mail’s report,
The Duke and Duchess are understood to have relished the upsides of lockdown, which they spent at their home of Anmer Hall in Norfolk. No foreign tours, no away days, no business of state has meant the Cambridges have been able to spend a huge amount of time with their young brood.
William has managed to keep up his work through numerous Zoom calls to charities, volunteers and carers across the UK and both husband and wife have jollied the nation’s mood through dark and difficult times.
Once the laptop is closed, William has enjoyed helping George with his homework, painting with Louis and chasing Charlotte round the garden. Pitching tents, camping outside, growing tomatoes and peas from seeds and watching their sunflowers grow has been the order of the day.
Lazy afternoons can be spent at sea – in a small boat in the calm waters off the Norfolk coast or enjoying the seaside at a beach hut on a local stretch of golden sand where they can run with Lupo the dog. At other times, the Anmer Hall kitchen has been an ‘explosion of flour and chocolate’ while the family bake cakes and biscuits.
The day began with a visit to the London Bridge Job Centre, where they spoke to a group of customers who had been impacted by Coronavirus and are now receiving support at the centre.
About the visit, Palace said, “The Duke and Duchess also spoke to Employers about their experiences of trying to help people find jobs during a global pandemic. London Bridge JobCentre has seen a significant increase in its claimant base since the start of Covid-19 and has continued to provide support with face to face care to vulnerable customers in a COVID-19 secure manner”.
Couple at the London Centre.
The next stop of the day was The London Muslim Centre, where volunteers have played an important role in supporting members of their community by helping to cook and deliver warm meals and medication to the most vulnerable during the pandemic.
At the Centre, Prince William and Catherine met volunteers and beneficiaries of the project that were supported by funds from the National Emergencies Trust. Prince William is the patron of the National Emergencies Trust that was launched in 2017. They were introduced to the range of services provided by the mosque.
Vital support given by the East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre included: providing emergency mortuary facilities; delivering meals, food and hygiene packs, and medication; and maintaining advice and counselling services. Beyond providing vital supplies, the team have also been providing befriending calls to the isolated, vulnerable and elderly and critical counselling, including supporting women affected by domestic violence. Much of this was made possible through urgent fundraising at the height of the lockdown, supported generously by the Muslim community.
The Duke and Duchess listened to staff, volunteers and beneficiaries about the positive impact of these services and congratulated the staff and volunteers for their hard work and effort during such a difficult period. They also met representatives from businesses who partnered up with the Mosque to deliver these services, including Bow Cash and Carry and Saffron Kitchen.
At the end of the visit, the Duke and Duchess were presented with a gift of honey from the Mosque’s own beehives.
William and Catherine ended their day at the famous Brick Lane where they tried their hand at bagel making at East London’s famous Beigel Bake Brick Lane Bakery. Beigel Bake was opened in 1974 and has thrived as a family business, opening 24 hours and churning out on average 3,000 beigels a day.
The 24-hour bakery was forced to reduce their opening hours during the pandemic but despite the challenge, the owner of the bakery joined food donation programme ‘Feast’ and the staff worked hard to help the community. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge heard how this affected employees, as well as the ways in which the shop have helped their community through food donation and delivery.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge joined the staff and helped them preparing beigel. The owner of the bakery, later on, said that she believes The Duchess was better at the job while The Duchess herself said it was just a beginner’s luck.
From Daily Mail’s report,
‘We are so excited to come to your famous shop,’ William told Amnon Cohen, 70, one of the co-founders, who started it with his late brother, Asher Cohen. ‘We’ve been here 41 years, thank you for coming,’ Mr Cohen told him proudly.
‘We are so happy to see you,’ shouted Fiona. ‘We’ve heard there are very famous beigels in here,’ said William.
‘Have you ever had one?’ She asked. ‘No, not here,’ he replied.
‘You got a bit of everything,’ said William, looking eagerly at the counter, which was groaning with cakes as well as their signature breads and beigels. ‘Why are your beigels so good? Is it a special recipe? How are you all doing?’
‘We are struggling on, you know,’ replied Fiona. Kate asked about deliveries. ‘I hear you make 3,000 beigels a day. Amazing,’ she remarked.
‘How has the supply chain been?’ asked William. He was told that had been fine although sanitation products had been hard to get hold of. Eyeing up the goodies, William remarked: ‘This is a dangerous shop to be in!’
Before leaving, the bakery staff presented them with a goodie bag of baked gifts and brown paper bags of beigels. About the royal visit, the owner of the bakery, Amnon said it was the ‘proudest moment of my life’.
The couple left the bakery amid the loud cheers!
A video of the day.
For the day, The Duchess of Cambridge wore Beulah London Calla Rose Red Dress.
We first saw the dress during the Special Radio message that she recorded for Mental Health Awareness Week in May 2020. The £550 dress is described as, “The Calla Rose Red Floral Shirt Dress evokes a classic mood. It’s crafted from silk crepe de chine and trimmed with a contrasting white cotton broderie lace collar and cuffed balloon sleeves. Note the concealed placket – a contemporary touch – and A-line skirt. Team with ballet flats for an effortless display.”
The Duchess of Cambridge paired the dress with a new pair of pumps. She wore Ralph Lauren Celia Calfskin Pumps. Thanks to Middleton Maven on Twitter for the id.
Catherine teamed up the look with Missoma rhodochrosite gold mini pyramid charm hoops. Thanks to Regal Replikate on Twitter for the id.
She was carrying her Anya Hindmarch Snakeskin Lizard Clutch that we saw during Germany tour in 2017.
New!📸 Kate and Louis spotted out in London🥺❤️ pic.twitter.com/63p4u2XZgk
— Belle (@RoyallyBelle_) September 15, 2020
In other very interesting news, The Duchess of Cambridge was seen in London with Prine Louis. It’s been reported that the Duchess was stuck at the Battersea Bridge with Prince Louis, so she started on foot with young Prince. In the pictures, The Duchess of Cambridge is wearing a white sleeveless ribbed top with Massimo Dutti Two-Tone Print Skirt. Thanks to cambridg_sussex on Twitter for the id.
More pictures have been released of Kate and Prince Louis out in London!😍📸 pic.twitter.com/EmPVUiRaUJ
— Belle (@RoyallyBelle_) September 16, 2020
Catherine paired the outfit with black belle flats, gold hoops and necklace.
