Prince William and The Duchess of Cambridge attended a special performance of Dear Evan Hansen tonight, February 25, in London at the Noël Coward Theatre in aid of The Royal Foundation.

Dear Evan Hansen tells the story of a teenager with social anxiety who “fabricates a relationship with a deceased student to become closer to the boy’s family.” (stageagent) The musical focuses on the themes of mental health, social anxiety, and suicide, which are topics William and Kate and The Royal Foundation have been focusing on for years, so the connection here is fitting.

William and Kate met the cast backstage after the performance. William told them:

It was amazing. We were saying beforehand, because we hadn’t seen any of this beforehand, we had a little bit of a taste earlier on, but to do a production on mental health, you’re like how is this going to work? Because it can be, it can go either way. It can either be too serious, and everyone goes ‘oh my god, this is quite intense’, or it’s like, it’s too thin. You nailed it with the human, you have the normalization of it, but you also have the sincerity and the authenticity.

Richard Palmer Twitter

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Kate wore a new dress from Eponine London for the performance – a black bouclé dress from the AW18 collection. Sparkly Jimmy Choo shoes and clutch were brought out to make the outfit a bit more exciting, and Kate also wore The Queen’s chandelier earrings, which were mostly hidden behind her hair.

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I haven’t seen or heard any of the music from Dear Evan Hansen so I’m going to focus on something I can comment on: Kate’s fashion. I love the earrings, but wish Kate would try more hair options to show them off (and not just her typical updo). I think the dress is super boring and doesn’t photograph well in the low light.

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