Kate Middleton had a busy weekend as the 34-year-old royal celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Royal Air Force Air Cadets on Sunday, Feb. 7. The event marks the Duchess's first official appearance of the year as she attended a church service at St. Clement Danes Church in London.
The Duchess wore a cornflower blue Alexander McQueen coat for the engagement and she accessorized her look with a black hat, navy heels and an Air Cadets Dacre brooch. According to the Duchess Kate blog, the event is the royal's first engagement as Honorary Air Commandant of the organization. Back in December, it was reported that the Duke of Edinburgh passed his patronage of the RAF Air Cadets to the Duchess after serving 63 years as Air Commodore-in-Chief.
After the church service, the Duchess attended a reception at the Royal Courts of Justice where the Air Cadets were introduced to their new patron. In pictures released by the Kensington Palace Twitter feed, the Duchess can be seen smiling as she talked to current cadets, veterans, and adult volunteers. The royal was also photographed while cutting a cake with the youngest cadet.
Express reports that the Duchess spoke with Cadet Lucinda Conder, 19. Conder said that the Duchess told her that she showed her son, Prince George, pictures of Spitfires after a royal engagement.
"He is now obsessed with the air cadets and wants to join," said Conder to Express. "We are going to have to push that one when he gets to age 12."
The organization is currently made up of 42,000 cadets aged 12 to 19, and 15,000 adult volunteers across the United Kingdom and abroad.
On the same day, the Duchess also released a PSA for Children's Mental Health Week. In the three-minute video, the royal talked about the importance of prioritizing the mental health of children, and she could also be seen interacting with some young children in the clip. The PSA is the third video message that the Duchess has recorded since joining the royal family.
