An homage to the best. Duchess Kate stunned at her first solo overseas appearance on Tuesday, October 11, in the Netherlands, wearing a skirt suit that could have been pulled from her late mother-in-law Princess Diana‘s closet.
The Duchess of Cambridge, 34, looked polished and professional in her powder-blue Catherine Walker separates, including a peplum jacket and pencil skirt. She accessorized with her nude L.K. Bennett clutch, suede pumps and pearl earrings on loan from the queen. The earrings were an especially fitting choice, as she visited Johannes Vermeer‘s famous “Girl With a Pearl Earring” painting at the Mauritshuis museum.
The duchess dropped into the museum, which is located at The Hague, the capital city of South Holland, after lunch with King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands. But, as Kensington Palace noted, the museum stop was the purpose behind the trip.
“The reason for the visit is that the Royal Collection loaned [22] works [for the exhibition ‘At Home in Holland: Vermeer and his Contemporaries from the British Royal Collection’],” a palace spokesperson told Us Weekly. “As a result, an invitation was extended to the Duchess, a former history of art student, to come over to the Mauritshuis.” (Indeed, as legend has it, Kate and Prince William first met as art history students at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.)
“This is the centerpiece of the visit,” the spokesperson added. “Everything else has been organized around it.”
Kate, who hopped over the English Channel without her children, Prince George, 3, and Princess Charlotte, 17 months, in tow, not only looked lovely touring South Holland, she served up a bit of nostalgia. The duchess’ suit looked remarkably similar to a peplum skirt suit Princess Diana wore while attending the Royal Ascot in June 1986. The main difference is that while Kate chose blue, the late princess modeled cream, plus matching accessories. Though it’s also worth noting that Kate’s suit is by Walker, one of Diana’s favorite designers.