Kate Middleton is sporting her second outfit of the day during a surprise visit to Northern Ireland with Prince William.
The Prince and Princess of Wales, both 43, made an unannounced trip to Northern Ireland on Oct. 14, making a series of visits with local organizations. Their first stop was to the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service’s (NIFRS) new Learning and Development College in Cookstown, where they participated in drills and learned about how the next generation of firefighters is developing their skills there.
Princess Kate wore a familiar outfit for the first engagement, sporting an olive green Alexander McQueen coat dress that has been in her closet for at least five years. Kate — who is known for recycling outfits, often years apart — debuted the piece during a January 2020 visit to Bradford Town Hall before reusing the coat at the royal family’s Christmas church outing in 2022.
Before departing the firefighter education center, Kate switched up her outfit, swapping the long jacket for a shorter coat that revealed a brown skirt. She also changed her shoes, taking off her heeled boots for flat ones.
The quick change prepped her for their next stop of the day: Mallon Farm, a flax farm in County Tyrone that is spearheading the revival of flax growing to make linen in an eco-conscious way.
While at the farm, Princess Kate got to work, trying out a restored heritage machine that is used for “breaking and scutching” the flax.
Prince William and Princess Kate learned from Helen Keys and Charlie Mallon from the farm about the growing process and taking the flax from “field to fibre to fabric.”
To finish up their visit to the farm, the royal couple also met with Northern Irish linen designers and manufacturers.
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The Princess of Wales has been a longtime supporter of the importance of the British textiles industry and its role as part of the U.K.’s cultural and creative voice, and she’s visited manufacturers to highlight the industry. In a personal tie, her paternal ancestors were the owners of the woollen manufacturer and merchant, William Lupton & Co, which was based in Leeds.
William and Kate last visited Northern Ireland together in October 2022, shortly after they became Prince and Princess of Wales following the death of Queen Elizabeth the prior month.
William was also in the capital city of Belfast in November 2024, where he took a ride on a motorbike simulator at a university.
English