There’s nothing like a trip to the coast to blow the cobwebs away, and Kate Middleton appeared in great spirits as she joined Dr Jill Biden today at the start of the G7 summit.
The Duchess of Cambridge, 39, cut an elegant figure in a red dress with matching shoes as she arrived to meet the President’s wife at a school in Cornwall this afternoon.
The mother-of-three and the US First Lady are set to discuss female empowerment, children and early education during a seminar.
Today marks the first time the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have attended official G7 summit events, marking another milestone in their progression as senior royals.
Kate wore her bouncy brunette locks styled in her signature side parting and opted for minimal makeup as she sported a simple smokey eye.
The Duchess of Cambridge, 39, cut an elegant figure in a red dress with matching shoes as she arrived to meet the President’s wife Dr Jill Biden in Cornwall this afternoon
Kate and Jill smiled and laughed as they went into the classroom to meet children who have been learning about America’s First Lady
For First Lady Jill Biden the G7 summit marks the first time she has left the US since husband Joe became president.
According to CNN, the pair are also set to tour a school in Cornwall as part of their meeting later today.
The duchess has made early years development one of the main pillars of her public role since she first became a member of the royal family.
In 2020, she launched her Early Years survey, a a milestone moment for her work on the importance of early childhood in shaping the rest of our lives and broader societal outcomes.
In 2018 she created a steering group to investigate the link between childhood experiences and adult behaviour and hopes that the results of their survey and other research will encourage a ‘nationwide conversation’ on the subject, raising awareness of how the first five years of a child’s life will impact the next 50 years.
In the evening, the Queen and Prince Charles are set to host a reception at the Eden Project for the world leaders and their spouses.
William and Kate will join the Queen, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at the reception at the Eden Project on Friday evening.
US First Lady Jill Biden described the summit and their visit to the UK as a ‘beautiful beginning’
Prince Charles will host an additional reception where he will brief leaders on his ‘sustainable markets initiative’.
The Royal Family will then depart and the leaders and their spouses will then have dinner, prepared by local chef Emily Scott before returning to the summit venue at Carbis Bay.
The Big Jubilee Lunch will form part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022 and during Friday the monarch, joined by Kate and Camilla, will attend an event in celebration of The Big Lunch, an initiative spearheaded by the Eden Project.
The royal party will meet local Big Lunch volunteers and thank them for their efforts supporting their communities through the challenges of the past year.
On Sunday, President Biden and his wife Jill will travel to Windsor Castle for an audience with the Queen – their first official meeting since he became president.
When asked about the visit, Jill Biden said: ‘Well, we’re hoping to focus, I think, on education.
This will be the third time Kate has met with a President and his wife having met Barack and Michelle Obama back in 2011 and 2016 (pictured, in 2016)
‘Joe and I are both looking forward to meeting the Queen. That’s an exciting part of the visit for us.
‘We’ve looked forward to this for weeks and now it’s finally here. It’s a beautiful beginning.’
The appearance from Kate comes amid a difficult week for the family, following what would have been the Duke of Edinburgh’s 100th birthday.
Yesterday members of the royal family took to social media to pay tribute to Prince Philip.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge took to the Kensington Royal Twitter and shared two snaps of the Queen planting a beautiful ‘Duke of Edinburgh’ rose in the East Terrace Garden in Prince Philip’s honour on Wednesday.
Meanwhile earlier this week Prince Harry threatened the BBC with legal action after it reported that he and Meghan Markle did not ask the Queen for permission to name their daughter Lilibet – as an extraordinary three-way briefing war broke out between the Sussexes, the Palace and the corporation.
The appearance from Kate comes amid a difficult week for the family, following what would have been the Duke of Edinburgh’s 100th birthday
Senior Buckingham Palace sources told BBC royal correspondent Jonny Dymond this morning that the Queen was ‘never asked’ her opinion on the couple’s decision to name their new baby after her childhood nickname.
However, Harry hit back within 90 minutes of the BBC’s report being published through a statement from his and Meghan’s close friend Omid Scobie that insisted the Queen was the first person the Duke called after the birth of his daughter.
Mr Scobie, who wrote the bombshell Finding Freedom biography of the couple, also claimed the Sussexes would not have used the name Lilibet unless the Queen had supported the move.
Harry, who together with wife Meghan announced they were expecting a girl during their interview with Oprah in March, took things a step further mere hours after his rebuttal of the report, threatening the BBC with legal action through law firm Schillings.
Notice of the legal action was followed by a carefully-worded statement that raised more questions than answers over whether the Queen did give permission or if the couple simply informed her of their intentions in a fait accompli.
The statement insisted that the BBC report was wholly wrong and read: ‘The Duke spoke with his family in advance of the announcement, in fact his grandmother was the first family member he called.
‘During that conversation, he shared their hope of naming their daughter Lilibet in her honour. Had she not been supportive, they would not have used the name.’
The BBC then amended its report though the article still says that the Queen was not asked about the name of the baby. Mr Dymond’s tweets citing a Buckingham Palace source also still remain up.
The BBC report on the Palace’s position and Harry’s fiery reaction implies both parties believe they are telling the truth on the issue. It suggests that Harry and Meghan could have informed the Queen of Lilibet’s name before taking Her Majesty’s non-denial as consent.
On the other hand, the Palace briefings appear to hint that the Queen felt she was presented with the couple’s decision and asked to rubber stamp it, rather than give permission.