Perhaps to offset all the grumbling about the royal finances, Kensington Palace announced today that Catherine Cambridge has taken on a new patronage from the Queen:

Kate stepped out today to highlight the news, and bring attention to one of her other patronages:

Kate’s focus is early childhood development and mental health and she is also connected to the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum. So the Royal Photographic Society fits in well with her other patronages. And with what she studied at St Andrew’s University. Kate graduated with a degree in Arts and, as we’ve seen, she’s been releasing her own photos of the children, Big G, Charlotte, and now Louis. So both Kate and Meghan Markle, with art backgrounds, are supporters of the arts in the UK, repping the value of artistic contribution to a healthy society, a continuation of the Queen’s work. There are many leaders, as we’ve seen, who don’t place value on arts and culture and what they can bring to communities. “Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable.” That was George Barnard Shaw. The use of the word “crudeness” is rather apt, now more than ever. I wonder if he’d be surprised by current events. 

Back to Kate – this is such a Kate Middleton dress, right? And those are such Kate Middleton shoes. If I were styling her, to what she wants, I would have pulled this for her for sure. If I was styling her, to what I wish she would want, I would have gone with a dress with a few more pops of colour, same cut, and I would have put her in sneakers. Come on! She would kill that look.