Today Queen Letizia of Spain attended the second engagement of the week. She was present at the working meeting of Spanish Red Cross at its headquarters in Madrid.
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The Spanish Red Cross has more than 200,000 volunteers and more than 1400 points of service throughout the country, which allow more than 4 million people to be served annually with the support of +1,360,000 partners, companies and allies.
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Internationally, the Spanish Red Cross has been present in 54 countries with a total of 294 International Cooperation and Emergency projects in 2018, deploying a total of 145 delegates with different profiles, to help more than 6.4 million people.
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The Spanish Red Cross belongs to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, always acting under its seven Fundamental Principles: Humanity, Impartiality, Neutrality, Independence, Voluntary Character, Unity and Universality
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The meeting was held to discuss three different projects of the organization “Own Space” (Education); “Shelters for Women and children” (Social Inclusion) and the “Entre Mujeres” (Employment) project.
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After the meeting, Doña Letizia toured three explanatory panels of the projects presented at the meeting.
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The Spanish Red Cross handles almost 20000 cases of gender-based violence and provides shelter and other resources to the victims of the gender-based violence.
Now to what Letizia wore – Queen Letizia debut a new professional look today. She was wearing a Prince of Wales print tailored suit that contains a blazer and a flared trouser. The suit is a new piece in her wardrobe and is still unidentified.
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Upon arrival, Queen was wearing her beige Felipe Varela long coat.
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Letizia paired the outfit with her black Magrit Pumps and was carrying her Hugo Boss ‘Fanila’ calfskin clutch.
Today, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had their first official away day of the new decade. The couple visited the diverse Yorkshire city of Bradford to undertake a series of engagements. The Royal couple visited several projects which support the community while bringing a spotlight to the vibrant culture and community of Bradford.
William and Catherine arrived began the day from the City Hall in Bradford’s Centenary Square where the Lord Mayor of the city welcomed the couple while the church bells were chiming to announce the arrival of the Royal Couple in the beautiful city.
Bradford was named the “most improved city” to live and work in the UK in November last year. A video of the arrival.
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Catherine received a beautiful posy from kids who were wearing pink hoodies saying, “Welcome to Yorkshire”.
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At the City Hall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge met a group of young people from across the community to hear about life in Bradford. William and Catherine met representatives from local employers and businesses who are helping young people into employment.
They chatted at length with Caitlund Roberts, 19, who talked to them about STEM subjects and being a woman in engineering.
‘STEM is something we have been going around asking about a lot,’ said William, ‘getting girls into engineering. ‘ He asked: ‘How did you find the journey getting into it. Easy? Difficult? What more can be done?’
Caitlund told them eloquently about the ‘stigma’ she sometimes felt the profession came with for women. There was, she said, a misnomer that women wouldn’t be good with their hands and said there was an urgent need for more apprenticeships.
Kate also chatted to Rosena Nawaz about mental health issues and asked her: ‘Do you think a lot of your friends are talking about mental health as topic of conversation? Is this something people your age are talking about? Is there a big conversation around anxiety and depression?
‘What are the services like in Bradford for mental health?’ asked William. He talked about the need for better ‘mental fitness’.
‘We all look after our bodies, go to the gym, keep fit. But we need to think about our mental fitness each day too. There’s a clinical side to mental health but we need to keep our minds health and positive every day. It’s about mental fitness too,’ he said.
Liaba Kazmi, 15, told the couple how she lived in an area of Bradford called Carlton Bolling and how it was renowned as one of the most deprived and ‘roughest’ areas of the city and wanted to become a politician or a police officer to facilitate change.
The Duchess’s longstanding work on the early years has highlighted the importance of supporting children and families during this seminal period of their lives, and the importance of all members of society in raising children. Continuing their conversation with Caitlund,
William smiled and said: ‘I can see why you want to be a politician or a police officer. I know just the right lady! The fact that this bothers you is good, you want to make a difference. You see that and you think ‘that’s not right’, this is my home town and why is this happening. ‘ ‘You want to break those generational roles,,’ added Kate, ‘otherwise those five and six-year-olds won’t know any different.
‘Well done, it’s a big mission.’
Bradford Council
Before departing the City Hall, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge greeted the members of the public who had gathered outside City Hall to greet them. The couple received a really warm and happy welcome from the locals who cheered them up when they step out of the 19th Century building.
At one point the screaming crowd was so loud the Duke beamed and said to a group: ‘Hello! You’re the noisy corner – You’re in fine voice’, sparking squeals of excitement from some women waving Union flags and clutching bouquets for him and his wife.
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Next, William and Catherine visited MyLahore’s flagship restaurant where they met students from Bradford College who are on a kitchen apprenticeship scheme.
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The couple learnt about some of the charitable work that the restaurant does to support the community. At the restaurant, they were joined by the Boxer Amir Khan, who is a friend of the family who owns MyLahore.
It was time to put their cookery skills to test. The Duke and Duchess joined students making mango lassis before sitting down to meet representatives from the UK Women’s Muslim Council and those who have benefitted from the Council’s Curry Circle. The Curry Circle, which is sponsored by MyLahore, is an initiative that provides a hot two-course meal for people who are homeless or struggling to feed themselves.
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William and Catherine met with the Chefs and Staff of the restaurant. The Duchess told well-wishers the trip to Pakistan was “such a special visit, we really enjoyed it”. In a very rare glimpse of their private life, Duchess of Cambridge remarked about the possibility of the 4th Cambridge kid. From Mirror’s report,
During a chat with Josh Macpalce, who told her he had sent her and William cards congratulating them on the births of all three of their children, she replied: “I don’t think William wants any more”.
Another video of the visit.
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Next stop was one of Bradford’s Khidmat Centres, whose main focus is to help the most vulnerable members of the community from minority ethnic backgrounds. On arrival, William and Catherine heard about the activities and workshops offered at the centre, and the organisations that they support.
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At the Khidmat Centre, the couple was surprised by a very creative and beautiful ‘William and Kate’ cake.
Khidmat Centre
The cake was made by a resident Siama Ali. Siama depicted the journey of the royal couple from childhood to their kid’s birth on the cake and mini cupcakes. Simon Perry reported that after looking at his childhood picture on the cake William said, “Is that me? Because that looks just like Charlotte. That is incredible”.
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William and Catherine also received some cute gifts for their three kids.
Khidmat Centre
The Duke and Duchess then joined a session involving groups supported by Better Start Bradford, which delivers over 20 projects to pregnant women and families with children under the age of 4.
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The couple met families from the ‘Older Yet Wiser’ project, a unique and innovative workshop series for grandparents who have child-caring responsibilities for their grandchildren. Participants in the workshop are given tools to enhance their relationship with their grandchildren whilst receiving up-to-date information on raising children in the 21st century.
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A mother of three kids, Duchess is always quick to notice little kiddies in the room.
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They met with local businessmen and members of the Chamber of Commerce in the city. Local business helps in keeping the economy strong given the economic flux of the country. From Rebecca English’s report,
They also met local board member Adeeba Malik CBE who told them: ‘Your trip to Pakistan, please don’t underestimate the importance of it. It was phenomenal. It was so powerful.’ ‘We loved it,’ William grinned.
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Finally, The Duke and Duchess joined a workshop run by Near Neighbours, an organisation which brings people together in communities across the UK that are religiously and ethnically diverse, so that they can get to know each other better, build relationships of trust, and collaborate on initiatives that improve the local community that they live in. From the BBC,
Before they left, the couple were asked by social entrepreneur Kamran Rashid their opinion of the city.
William replied: “You can see that communities are trying to come together, trying to help each other, get to know each other and that is really crucial. If we can replicate that more across the country then it can only be for good.”
Now to What Duchess Wore- Catherine chose to debut a new stunningly elegant winter look. She was wearing a new Alexander McQueen olive coat.
The Royal Family
The long coat features a structured Miliary silhouette with high neckline. It looks like a bespoke piece of the label.
Zara Printed Dress with Belt
Underneath the coat, the Duchess of Cambridge wore a ZARA Printed Dress. The dress is another new addition to her wardrobe. Described as, “Flowing long sleeve dress featuring a high neck with ties and a V-shaped opening, an elastic inner waist, a detachable belt in matching fabric with a covered buckle, and a front button fastening” dress was on sale for just £16 before selling out.
Next, we will see Catherine on January 20 when she and William will host a reception at Buckingham Palace to mark the UK-Africa Investment Summit on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen.
January is usually a slow week on the royal front. We do not get many out of the glass activities and Queen Letizia of Spain’s schedule this week is proof of that. The Spanish Queen today received two audiences at the Royal Palace of Zarzuela in Madrid.
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First, she received a representation of the Federation of Cinematographic Distributors in order to know the situation of the film industry and the main challenges of the sector led by its president and CEO, Estela García-Moreno Artacho.
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The Federation of Cinematographic Distributors (FEDICINE) is a non-profit organization that pursues the defence and representation of the interests of the film distribution sector in Spanish territory before the administrations, as well as, before other associations, agents and associations of the sector.
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FEDICINE was established as a professional association in February 1988, representing more than 90 per cent of the Spanish distribution sector. FEDICINE is composed of distributors Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, Universal, Fox, Paramount, Disney, eOne and A countercurrent.
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Later Queen Letizia meet with the representatives of the “Fiscal Soledad Cazorla Prieto” Scholarship Fund of the Women Foundation, with the objective of knowing first-hand the Scholarship Fund for orphaned minors of women victims of death due to gender-based violence.
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Fundación Mujeres is a non-profit non-governmental organization that works in the different areas including social, political, economic and cultural, with the aim of achieving equal opportunities Be real and effective. Its mission is to contribute to the social and political change necessary to ensure that equality between women and men is real and effective in all areas of life and, in this way, improve the social situation, quality of life and full rights Women’s.
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The foundation helps the children of the victims of the gender-based violence to cover their education expenses or activities to reinforce school performance or psychological support of minors or for the development of university studies or vocational training for adults.
Now to What Letizia Wore- Queen Letizia chose a simple yet stunning look for the day.
Boss Banora Blouse
She wore red Hugo Boss Banora blouse with pleated neckline.
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Queen was wearing a black belt on skirt that is still unidentified.
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Letizia teamed up the blouse with Black Carolina Herrera midi skirt with red, white and blue floral embroidery on it that we first saw in November 2019.
