Happy Birthday Kate & January Engagements Announced

Happy Birthday Kate! The Duchess of Cambridge is celebrating her 38th birthday at Kensington Palace today (She was spotted driving earlier today, click here to see photos). The Duchess privately celebrated with family and a group of close friends at Anmer Hall over the weekend before returning to London for George and Charlotte's return to Thomas's Battersea on Tuesday. To mark the occasion, a new image, taken by one of the Cambridges favourite photographers, Matt Porteous was shared.

It's a lovely photo and has a similar feel to several of the shots we saw of Kate at RHS Chelsea before Back To Nature opened to the public. Judging by Kate's outfit, it's possible it was taken the same time as the Cambridges 2018 Christmas card at Anmer Hall.

Kate is wearing her Fjallraven Forest Green Sweater and (it appears) Asprey Oak leaf earrings.

Also today, The Palace announced several engagements for January beginning with a packed day in Bradford on Wednesday 15 January.

More on the itinerary:

'The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will travel to Bradford on Wednesday 15th January to visit a number of projects which support the community and promote cohesion within it, in one of the UK’s most diverse cities. They will then join a session involving groups supported by Better Start Bradford. 

Their Royal Highnesses will first visit City Hall in Bradford’s Centenary Square to join a group of young people from across the community to hear about life in Bradford. The Duke and Duchess will then meet representatives from local employers and businesses who are helping young people into employment. Before departing Centenary Square, Their Royal Highnesses will have the opportunity to meet members of the public gathered outside City Hall.

The Duke and Duchess will visit one of Bradford’s Khidmat Centres, whose main focus is to help the most vulnerable members of the community from minority ethnic backgrounds. On arrival, Their Royal Highnesses will hear about the activities and workshops offered at the centre, and the organisations that they support.

The Duke and Duchess will then join a session involving groups supported by Better Start Bradford, which delivers over 20 projects to pregnant women and families with children under the age of 4. Their Royal Highnesses will meet families from the ‘Older Yet Wiser’ project, a unique and innovative workshop series for grandparents who have child-caring responsibilities for their grandchildren. Participants in the workshop are given tools to enhance their relationship with their grandchildren whilst receiving up-to-date information on raising children in the 21st century.

The Duchess’s longstanding work on the early years has highlighted the importance of supporting children and families during this seminal period of their lives, and the importance of all members of society in raising children.

Finally, The Duke and Duchess will join a workshop run by Near Neighbours, an organisation which brings people together in communities across the UK that are religiously and ethnically diverse, so that they can get to know each other better, build relationships of trust, and collaborate together on initiatives that improve the local community that they live in.'

Additionally on Monday, 20 January, William and Kate will a host a reception at Buckingham Palace on behalf of the Queen to mark the UK-Africa summit. The summit will bring together heads of state and government and senior representatives from African countries, key multilateral agencies and high profile UK and African businesses. I expect it will be an evening event with cocktail dress.

Wishing the Duchess a very Happy Birthday!

On a side note, I've covered the news the Sussexes are stepping back from life as senior royals on my other blog. We'll keep the discussion on that topic over there. Many thanks.