Kate Middleton's New Zealand Wardrobe Changes

Josh Duboff

Kate Middleton
Kate Middleton

The Kate and George Down Under Show (and, oh yeah, William's there, too) rolls on. Thursday was a very busy day for the royal couple, while George, understandably, got the day off, after giving photographers enough material at his play date yesterday to make a different George's Adorable Face wall calendar for every New Zealand citizen.

Kate and William started their day at the War Memorial in Blenheim, New Zealand, where they participated in a wreath-laying ceremony, which was followed by a commemoration service with 100 veterans. Kate was dressed in a periwinkle Alexander McQueen military coat, which she adorned with a "commemorative poppy pin." Then, Kate and William hightailed it to an aviation center, where they were greeted by one of New Zealand's most high-profile residents: Peter Jackson. The Lord of the Rings director gave the couple a tour of his vintage airplane collection. William maneuvered his way into a vintage biplane (no doubt whispering, "See, I can do photo ops too, goddamit!," on his way in). Kate took a peek inside, and, according to the Daily Mail, asked Jackson "what the different levers did." Kate was clearly just being polite, though, since we know she knows her way around a plane's operating board, having taken her share of flying lessons (from Prince Harry, no less!). Jackson also took an iPhone shot of Kate posing with one of his planes, which instantly made his iPhone worth more than the gross national products of half this world's countries.


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After their busy afternoon, Kate changed into a black Jenny Packham gown for an evening reception at the Government House, hosted by New Zealand's governor general. The dress featured a silver fern (a New Zealand emblem) on the shoulder, evoking the customs of the Queen, who often makes a sartorial nod to the country she's visiting. (Kate, meanwhile, still refuses to indulge us with a tiara.) A new portrait of the Queen was unveiled during the evening, which Kate and William helped to uncover.

We imagine Kate, before heading to sleep, took out her phone to e-mail Pippa: "such a long day, pips. first i laid a wreath, which i can basc do in my sleep at this point, obviously. Then the guy who wrote game of thrones or the hobbit or whatever took like 50 pictures of me next to this plane. don't ask lol. William was all excited about meeting him-he can be such a nerd about those things, I love it. Then a bunch of dignitaries fainted when I looked them in the eyes, you know, the usual. Also, any chance u want a dress with a fern embroidered on it???! Can't imagine I'm gonna have a lot of use for it after tonight. MISS U. AND REMEMBER DON'T WATCH ANY 'real housewives' until I'm back!!!! Xoxox."


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