Kate Middleton swaps her tennis gear for an elegant blue Amelia Wickstead coat

Kate Middleton swapped her tennis gear for a baby blue Amelia Wickstead coat this afternoon as she joined Prince William at the Closing Ceremony of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

The Duchess of Cambridge, 39, looked a picture of elegance in the chic belted wool coat which cut at the knee. Having let her locks loose throughout the day, the mother-of-three swept her chestnut waves into a more refined half updo. 

Earlier in the day Kate, a keen sportswoman, took part in a tennis session, donning her recycled preppy £90 Ralph Lauren cable knit sweatshirt, black trousers and £55 2750 Cotu Classic Superga trainers, while William, 38, also ditched his jacket and rolled up his shirtsleeves.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge met children from Canal View Primary School on the visit to Craiglockhart Tennis Centre and heard more about the LTA Youth Programme and the work of the Lawn Tennis Association, of which the Duchess is patron. 

They both took part in a friendly game of doubles, with Kate running and leaning to reach the ball at points. The royal mother-of-three also offered pointers to the youngsters. 

It is the second stop on a busy day of engagements for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as their week-long tour of Scotland comes to an end.

Earlier the couple visited Starbank Park where they helped nursery school children scatter plant seeds that will attract butterflies.

They also spent time with teenagers planting sunflowers as part of their Duke of Edinburgh Award. 

The Duchess of Cambridge looked polished in a £130 polka dot jumper from Jigsaw and favourite £140 Massimo Dutti blazer for the morning outing.  

At one point Kate and William both put on gardening gloves and helped children with planting a garden. As Kate gave the youngsters tips, William joked she was getting ‘free labour’. 

The green-fingered royal also revealed she ‘loves weeding’ in a conversation with one girl. 

Starbank Park is run by the City of Edinburgh Council and protected by Fields in Trust which has William as its president, a role previously held by his grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh.

The couple heard about the trust’s Green Space Index, an annual barometer of green space provision and distribution across the UK, and chatted to volunteers and families about the importance of the park to the local community.

The index identifies the provision of green spaces and this year’s report found more than 2.77 million people live further than a 10-minute walk from a local park or green space, and only 6% of all parks and green spaces are protected in perpetuity. 

Prince William and Kate will return to London later today after spending a week in Scotland. The visit is part of a broader royal charm offensive to help persuade Scotland to resist the demands of nationalists for independence. 

Yesterday the couple delighted a small Scottish coastal town by popping in for a fish supper at the chippy they frequented as students at St Andrews 20 years ago.  

The couple ordered a £7.95 takeaway haddock supper, wrapped in paper, which they ate on a bench on the pier. They went back for ice creams – William’s in a cup, Kate’s in a cone – and chatted to staff, with Kate saying it had been a ‘trip down memory lane’.

It was a day full of nostalgia for the couple with events centered around the university where they met as freshers. 

The Cambridges arrived in St Andrews on Tuesday night, the day before their engagements in the town, and enjoyed a private ‘date night’ dinner at Forgan’s restaurant where they were seated in a ‘secluded’ corner table.

After staying locally, rather than at the Queen’s Edinburgh residence of Holyroodhouse, the couple enjoyed a morning of land yacht racing on a St Andrews beach. 

Later they met students and toured university grounds before making the short drive to the coastal village of Pittenweem to meet local fishermen and their families.

At the end of these official engagements, the Cambridges continued on to Anstruther, just four minutes’ drive away. After their fish and chips they were met by a royal helicopter, which landed in the children’s park, and flown back to the Palace of Holyroodhouse to host a special drive-in screening of Disney’s Cruella for NHS staff.  

Before the screening, Kate delivered a short speech in which she paid tribute to NHS staff across Scotland and thanked them for their dedication, commitment and personal sacrifice. 

She said: ‘As Joint Patrons of NHS Charites Together, William and I are absolutely delighted that so many of you could join us here tonight. We wanted to thank you for the extraordinary dedication, commitment and personal sacrifice you have shown in supporting our communities through this pandemic. 

‘It is a real privilege to work with NHS Charities Together. For the last 13 years it has worked tirelessly to improve services for patients and support NHS staff and volunteers, both practically and emotionally. Today, this work has never been more important.

‘So, with an enormous thank you to Her Majesty The Queen for allowing us to host the first-ever drive-in film night here at Holyrood. And with a huge thank you to Disney and BAFTA, for putting on this evening, and to the fabulous actress Tipper for joining us here tonight, William and I invite you to grab your popcorn, cuddle up under your blankets and be transported to 1970s Britain for an evening of much-deserved fun, drama, glamour and escapism!’

Disney is giving Cruella de Vil the live-action treatment with its anticipated new film Cruella, starring Emma Stone as the sinister protagonist, Tipper Seifert-Cleveland as ‘young Cruella’ and Emma Thompson as Baroness von Hellman.