And so concludes the Great Royal Cambridge Tour of New Zealand and Australia… Prince William and Kate Middleton concluded their tour on Day 19 by attending services to mark ANZAC day. They then boarded a RAAF plane in Canberra and flew to Sydney, where they changed planes (Will carried George) and flew home to London.
ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand to honor service men and women. It was originally in honor of those who fought and died at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. This year is the 99th anniversary. Read more here.
Will and Kate attended a dawn ceremony at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra to mark ANZAC day. This dawn appearance was unannounced prior to their showing up. Kate wore a black Temperley coat with a full skirt, black gloves and a cream scarf—which she took off at some point. She was wearing some sort of black dress underneath the coat, black tights and heels. She also wore a sprig of rosemary, which is traditional; it grows wild at Gallipoli.
Later in the morning Will and Kate arrived at the War Memorial for the official ceremony. They watched a march of veterans; then laid a wreath on the memorial. They placed poppies on the World War I Wall of Remembrance. They also placed flowers on the Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier. Will and Kate planted an Aleppo Pine tree.
Then Prince George made his final, grumpy, appearance in the arms of his mother when she and Will boarded the plane in Canberra. He gave us so many more Grumpy Faces. It’s his gift to us. He knows we won’t see him again until July for his first birthday, so he gave us a going-away present. So many Grumpy Faces!
A Kensington Palace spokesperson said: “The tour of New Zealand and Australia has been an incredible experience for both the Duke and Duchess and the couple really have enjoyed it immensely. We always said this would be an opportunity for the Duke to introduce both countries to the Duchess and Prince George and the couple have been bowled over by the extraordinarily warm welcome shown to them as a family by people everywhere they went.”
Kate wore a grey/navy full-skirted coat, a navy hat by Australian milliner Jonathan Howard, navy clutch and shoes. She wore her sapphire and diamond earrings, Cartier watch, and Asprey Woodland charms. Kate wore a new poppy brooch, given to her the night before by the wife of a Victoria Cross recipient. And of course a sprig of rosemary.
This is probably the last time we will see Will and Kate for a while. We probably won’t see them until Trooping of the Color in June. I actually think they should go away for a bit. There has been so much constant, over-the-top coverage that I think a lot of people got fatigued by the end (or middle) of the tour. I think it’s best they go away for a couple weeks to give everyone a chance to breath. I don’t think they should wait until June to do an appearance, though. Give it two weeks and then go back to their limited appearances, and ease into making more appearances. I doubt that will happen, though. Hopefully they surprise us and don’t wait until June to come out of hiding.
By the way, I’m probably going to do some sort of fashion round-up post—a “pick your favorite outfit” type thing.
Links: Daily Mail 1, 2, 3. Express 1, 2. Popsugar. Getty Images for Day 19. Hello! 1 and 2.
I think that Kate and William going to the Dawn Service was possibly the only honest appearance we have had from those two. Everything else has seemed so scripted, even going back to before their wedding, but going to that service and standing with every day Australians (and possibly Kiwis) gets a better response here than any hand shake or visit as it seems to be from the heart. Anzac Day is so important to us as it commemorates when Australia and New Zealand really came into being their own countries and starting to stand away from Great Britain. For them to attend says we stand with you in recognition of the fallen.
It’s absolutely great that they attended, but based on their appropriate attire (black coats, medals, etc.) you can tell it was planned all along.
From what I understand, the Day service was always on the schedule, but the Dawn service was still up in the air. They clearly were prepared in case they wanted to attend, but it was a later decision than originally planned. Like, if George was too fussy or something, Kate would have stayed home and only Will would have attended. So it was nice that they both went.
I agree, I think it was a nice thing for them to attend.
Congratulations on your coverage!! Excellent and well done!! PG is so adorable. Looking forward to the fashion roundup! I think the people if OZ/NZ have fallen in love with PW and Kate.
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it. George is the most adorable thing, and has such a big personality already.
Yes, you really did put a lot of time and effort into covering this tour for us. Thank you.it has proved a bit of nice distraction from the crazy end of tax season for me. 🙂
Well thank you; I’m glad you enjoyed the coverage. Happy to help distract from taxes.
George never looks happy, he’s either got a “I’m gonna get you” look on his face, a look of excitement about dominating something, or some kind of foul looking stinker face on. I wonder if he’ll be a little spoiled mean brat like his daddy was
I totally foresee him being a huge handful. The grumpy faces are the best thing ever to look at from afar, but Will and Kate are really going to need to start the discipline early to prevent him from being a nightmare when he gets older.
Oh, yes, I can already see George as highly indulged and exceedingly protected. It’ll be interesting to see how this effects his future behavior and personality. Any upcoming play-dates should really be a blast if he doesn’t learn how to play nice with his friends and not want to grab all the toys.
Thank you for all your posts. I’ve really enjoyed reading your perspective on the tour. I like that your blog is a good balance between being excessively fawning and overly critical.
Thank you for enjoying my posts and liking my attempt at balance 🙂 I know I can get nit-picky but I do try for that balance.
I think you’ve done a superb job of providing a fair analysis of the royals. I appreciate that you don’t hesitate to criticize or praise, depending on what you see. KMR is now the first place I go to for royal information. Thank you.