Leave it to Kate Middleton to make playing cricket in heels look so easy and elegant. Fresh off her pregnancy-debunking visit to Amisfield winery on April 13, the Duchess of Cambridge, 32, showed off her sporty side when she and her husband, Prince William, attended an event on Monday, April 14, in Christchurch, New Zealand, in honor of the 2015 Cricket World Cup.
Dressed for the day in black high heels and a tailored Lisa Spagnoli red skirt suit — which she previously wore for a visit to St. Andrews University in 2011 — the Duchess gamely took a few swings of the bat as several kids looked on. “She was quite nervous but she kept her eye on the ball,” former batswoman Debbie Hockley, 51, told the U.K.’s The Telegraph. See more pics of Kate Middleton.
“I thought they were great sports to take part in it,” Hockley added of the royal couple. “I couldn’t bat in high heels. [The Duchess has] not played before, so it’s a pretty good effort, and she did the best she could.”
Prince William, of course, is a relatively experienced cricket player (especially compared with his wife), but 11-year-old Jamie Elley was unimpressed. “He was rusty,” Elley told the Telegraph. “He does too many full tosses. But the second one was good.”
Earlier in the day, Prince George’s parents took part in a more somber event at Christchurch’s CTV Building Memorial Park, where 185 people lost their lives in the city’s February 2011 earthquake. After meeting with the families of four victims, they visited the Transitional Cathedral and then walked through Latimer Square Park, where thousands of well-wishers had lined up to catch a glimpse of the couple.
Both the Duke and the Duchess were given several gifts during their walkabout — including several for baby George, 9 months. Among their haul? Several posies, two hand-knitted toys, a couple of friendship bracelets, cookies, a sheep pillow, and a storybook written by 13-year-old Tilly-Belle Robinson. “She said she would read it to George tonight,” Robinson said of the Duchess. “She’s beautiful.”
Kate Ginders, mom to 20-month-old twins Blake and Paige, shared a similar sentiment, adding that Middleton is “a natural” with kids. “The first thing she commented on was how quiet they all were. She said, ‘I might need some advice on how to do this with George,'” Ginders shared. “Kate was really friendly…She seemed comfortable to engage with the kids and was playing with their little toys.”