William & Kate Pay a Visit to Botanical Gardens in Singapore

 

The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge arrived in Singapore (2:50pm local time) and began their nine day tour of south east Asia and the South Pacific. They are acting as representatives of the Queen to celebrate Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee.

With no time to get over jet lag, the couple headed off to visit the island’s world famous Botanical Gardens, where they were shown an orchid named after Williams late mother, Diana Princess of Wales - Dendrobium Memoria Princess Diana.

William & Kate received the special honour of having a pink and white hybrid orchid named for them.

 

The Vanda William Catherine orchid has flowers with white petals, red spots, and a dark purple lip. Each of its sprays grows to about a foot long, bearing up to 10 flowers.

 

 

Kate was perfectly groomed in a light pink bespoke kimono-style dress (£800) by British designer Jenny Packham. The dress was covered in darker pink orchids which was a fitting choice for her visit to the National Orchid Garden and a nod Singapore's national flower. It also featured three-quarter sleeves, a deep neckline and a full skirt. Per Jenny Packham on her FB page, "The dress is a light pink kimono style silk twill dress in a De Gournay orchid print."

 

Photo credit: Duchess Kate Blog Spot

 

 The Duchess complimented her look with simple accessories. She wore new off-white, LK Bennett Sledge heels (£145), a matching off-white clutch (yet to be ID'd) her Annoushka Baroque Pearl Earring Drops and of course her gorgeous sapphire and diamond engagement ring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kate's hair was pinned half-way up and off her face by her personal hairdresser who was hired by Prince Charles at a cost of £300 a day for the duration of the tour.

Following their visit to the Botanical Gardens, the couple checked into the world-famous Raffles where they will be staying for three nights while in Singapore. A room at the posh hotel can cost upwards of  £1,000.

 

 

 

Update 11/21/2012

 

Kate's clutch has been ID'd! It was posted for sale on Ebay and finally sold for £285. It is by Russell & Bromly. The seller on Ebay (sportwidow1) described it as :

'A pretty clutch bag, with patent front and back panels and gold edging and clasp.'

 

 

 

 

A follower on WKW says that the clutch is the Russell & Bromley 5th Ave in Beige Patent with gold.

Update 11/23/2012

 

Per a follower on WKW, Russell & Bromley have confirmed that Kate, did in fact, wear their Park Ave court shoe. Therefore, it is not LK Bennett as first thought.

Photo credit: My Small Obsessions on FB

 

Per a follower on 'My Small Obsessions:'

 

"Pictures are of the Park Ave/5th Ave shoes and clutch bag as I mentioned. As you will see they have the side seam on the inside foot of each shoe and the backs and soles match exactly to the pictures in the press of Kate wearing them. The bag absolutely matches the clutch. At the time I
bought them (I had suspected these were them for some time) R+B were not aware that Kate had worn them but that doesn't surprise me since they seem to miss when she wears their stuff all the time! I have also included a comparison of the heels of the Sledge shoes - as you will see the sledge has a far more angular heel - it actually has edges on it. The R+B heel is rounded and smooth. The other thing that gave these shoes away to me was the toe. I noticed that it actually sticks out more at the front than the sledge does - it is visible if you look at the photos of Kate with in the Orchid Garden. I noticed the same on the R+B picture in the catalogue as well. The shoes are about the same height as the Sledge but slightly shorter and in my opinion more comfortable and stable than the Sledge!"