The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had quite a terrifying final 24 hours in Pakistan. Yesterday, they were Lahore for a day of activities, and they were supposed to fly back to Islamabad in Thursday evening. They got on the plane and got in air… only the pilots were forced to turn back to Lahore to spend the night after an electric storm made it impossible to land the plane in Islamabad. Emergency hotel accommodations had to secured for William, Kate, the members of the media and their security in Lahore. The photos in this post are of Will and Kate leaving Lahore this morning and they were finally able to fly to Islamabad today.
I guess we know now that Kate and her entourage are always prepared for this kind of thing, because even though Kate had no idea she’d be staying overnight, she had an emergency kurta at the ready. This kurta is is from the Pakistani brand Elan. She paired it with slim white pants, beige pumps (probably Rossi) and a big black bag. Once again, Kate looks incredibly chic in these Pakistani clothes. I hope she’s learned something about the kinds of silhouettes which actually look good on her body. For too many years, she’s been paying a fortune to “bespoke” clothing to the point where everything looks oddly proportioned and twee. And almost be accident, she’s just now learning that actually, she should have been wearing loose-waisted tunics, peasant blouses and simple slim-cut trousers.
Because of the flight drama, Will and Kate’s schedule had to be rearranged, and I guess they’re no longer going on a helicopter trip over the Khyber Pass (an ancient route between Pakistan and Afghanistan, used by Osama bin Laden among millions of other people over centuries). They are doing one more event before they leave Islamabad though. And then they’ll be leaving Pakistan in several hours and heading back home.
Oh, here are some shots of Kate and William in Islamabad, doing their final event at the Army Canine Centre, where British military train bomb-sniffing dogs.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
I am not surprised that she had an extra outfit with her; my guess is that for visits like that (in a foreign country, not close to their hotel, etc) they always bring an extra outfit or two in case something happens (maybe not bc of bad weather concerns, but in case something gets spilled on or ripped etc.) I would imagine she probably had one or two extra kurtas made for the trip. But then I wonder what she would have done with it had she not needed it?
Anyway, that sounds like it was really scary and I’m glad everyone was okay.
That black coat at the canine center is also a great look for her.
I don’t expect her to start wearing tunics and slim pants everywhere she goes now, but I hope she does realize that coatdress aren’t always necessary and for many of her UK appearances, slim trousers, low heels, and a pretty sweater or blouse would be just fine.
Her best looks were the outfits from the Pakistani designers. The uk knock offs were not at the same level and had dumb things like unnecessary shoulder pads. Her shoe game was not good at all though. Only this last pair was decent. The brown and beige shoes were very meh.
Agreed. The silhouette of the tunic and pants looks great on her. The shoulder pads from the copycat designs drive me bonkers. This isn’t 1985. They’re not flattering at all.
Agree. The sharwaal khameez are a classic.
The “nude” (aka BEIGE) shoes need to go.
Wear black or matchy. ANYthing would look better!
@Nic – agreed. The Catherine Walker and Jenny Packham looks were the weakest of the tour, or at the least the most boring. I hope she realizes that going out of her comfort zone can be a good thing for her, but for some reason I doubt it lol.
I agree, Becks. I love the black and white ensemble at the end of the trip and especially those black shoes she had on. I could hardly believe my eyes!!! She should ditch the 4″ heels. Her posture might improve if she did.
But alas, I suspect instead of seeing her in classy tailored trousers, sweaters, cute shoes, we will once again see the plethora of coat dresses from her usual designers. I doubt she’ll change much.
her clothes have absolutely on point during this trip.
I’ve never seen her look better and I personally am a bit jealous of these clothes. They are gorgeous
Agreed. She suddenly looks like a modern, strong, sophisticated grown up. That outfit with the black coat is killer!
The last outfit with the black coat is probably the best thing I’ve seen her wear in a long time, maybe ever.
That black coat is perfection. She has nailed it every day.
This line IS amazing on her body. IMO, except for the brown skirt and leather vest, she had nailed it on this trip, even to some of the shoes.
However, I don’t expect to see her in ANY tunics at home. Not only has this been a look that Camilla wears a LOT, our Kate loves to show off her (admittedly fantastic) legs, and her slim torso. Kate won’t wear “baggy” if she doesn’t have to, even though, as so many of us say, she looks AMAZING in this silhouette.
I love this cream/black tunic a LOT! And the black and white outfit, with FLAT black shoes (love them!) was great, too!
Has everyone/anyone noticed that we don’t see ANY price tags on her clothes, even this Buela black coat she’s wearing here? Or the shoes? NOT ONE QUOTE.
She clearly hired a professional stylist for this trip.
The OG YES I have noticed that. I would like to see the price tags, since we always have to hear about Meghan’s.
Jealous here as well….anyone know how I can get my hands on one or two sets of these? Can I buy them online, in a shop, or are they just best made bespoke?
You can buy them online! Most of these brands deliver worldwide. You can google and check out their websites: Khaadi, Sana Safinaz, Gul Ahmed, Al Karam, Beech Tree, Zaha, Sapphire.
These labels have casual but also semi-formal wear. I haven’t mentioned the more high-end, formalwear brands.
Fantastic. I’ll look these up now. They look so pretty and easy to wear as well.
It wouldn’t hurt to include some high end suggestions as well, just for completeness sake, please.
Chuurs again! 😘
Novica.com has some reasonably priced tunics I’ve ordered. Well made and ships pretty quickly.
Wow loving all of these recs on where to find beautiful tunics. Thank you!
I second the recommendation to check out Novica. They have great quality and a focus on fair trade and promoting the local artisans they work with. I’ve gotten some really nice things from them.
On most people these clothes would like cosplay but on Cathy Cambridge the clothes just look damn chic. Credit where credit is due: Cathy’s styling was perfect on trip as was her personal presentation of herself to the people ob Pakistan.
Yeah…clearly it’s the terrible clothes she has been wearing that make her look odd and dowdy, and not her inability to look chic and elegant because she is crushing it in ways most of us could not in these clothes. I could not pull these clothes off, largely because this is not my ethnic/ancestral heritage, but it’s not hers either and she looks phenomenal.
Really hope she looks at these photos and gets inspired to try to recreate this vibe with British clothes and designers. I mean, maybe the problem is the UK isn’t designing chic clothing appropriate for her role? (Not trying to offend here, I just really don’t know much about British fashion other than what Kate wears…)
Yep. That’s her silhouette there!
Agreed. She has looked amazing in these outfits from Pakistani designers. Not too hot on the British attempts but even those weren’t awful
I also agree. These garments are beautiful, and they really suit her. She looks comfortable and professional, while demonstrating respect for their hosts.
I was thinking the same thing. She looks amazing.
Agreed!
Did she take her fall out? Clip in extensions? Her hair looks like 2 different lengths. But her outfits are really, really good.
Her hair does look shorter in the white outfit than in the black coat. Maybe it’s just the wind blowing it around or the amount of volume giving it a lift and making it appear shorter, but I much prefer the (appearance of?) shorter length in the white outfit pictures. She should consider keeping it at/cutting it to that length.
If you look closer, you can see she had a much tighter wave/curl in the cream and white tunic, and very loose waves in the black and white. Her hair must’ve “fallen”. Mine will do that, too: look one way when it’s first “done”, and more “relaxed” as time goes on.
I’ve said it before, I wish she would get a shorter, chicer haircut. Imagine her wearing these outfits with a long bob.
yep.
Definitely less hair. Makes sense that she would have the extensions taken out for the trip home.
The silhouettes and bright colours from this tour really work for her. While her outfits have had embroidery and embellishment, they’ve been nice and streamlined and not had the fussy details that she often favours. Hopefully we’ll see more like this.
That flight honestly sounds like my worst nightmare. I think I would have been crying like a baby.
Apparently her shoes are new but they’re from JCrew.
I had a flight like that once, an electrical storm coming back to CA from visiting a friend in MN. I have NEVER been as scared in my life. I was sure that the plane was going down (as was everyone else). Funnily enough, while we were all panicked, no one was screaming, like you’d see in a movie lol…there was some nervous laughing and jokes at first, but more praying (it turned a lot of atheists! lol). I think that plane STILL has the finger imprints in the headrests and armrests from all of us from that flight! 😊
Ugh, I’ve been on flights with crazy turbulence and you are so right…. it’s a silent panic. The worst!
Thank you Jan 😐 I am flying for the first time in 10 years (chronic phobia) next week…. should never have opened this article!!! lol.
@Nana, ooooof, I used to have phobia about flying but now I’m as cool as a cucumber when I fly. I read the book “Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Enjoy Flying” and it changed my life. It’s a quick read, inexpensive on Amazon. He simply sticks to the facts. I hope you can read it before you fly!
@Jenner – thanks so much for tip, I’ll try and find the book! My quickest and easiest solution is champagne and lots of it, but hopefully not enough to be offloaded pre-flight, or worse still, create a mid-flight Bridesmaid like, plane diverting drama 😀
She looks chic.
that sounds scary and luckily everyone is OK. On a superficial note: I want the black shoes! I hope she continues to wear these type of clothes / shoes.
Is it too much to ask if Kate keeps in line this styling for future events.
After this tour, I almost want to beg her to dress in slim pants and tunic tops now. She looks AMAZING in this casual style.
I don’t have much to say about the Cambridges anymore, but I will say this is probably the best Kate has ever looked. Please wear more of this Future Queen, please.
Her clothes look nice but man she is aging so badly. It’s like any youthfulness got sucked out of her.
Maybe you can email Kensington Palace and recommend her your best skin care regiment?
Lmao…guess I ruffled up some feathers
😅😅
@guest
Isn’t it body shaming to criticise someone’s physical appearance?
According to who? I hope you realize that anonymous or not, comments like that are cruel.
Yeah, clothes look nice, ALL credit goes to her style team whom probably connected with pakistani top stylists in-the-know, no credit given to Kate who only had to lift a finger to point to which outfit out of a dozen perfectly tailored coordinated ensembles, I mean do people really think the women who spent her first 5 years flashing her behind really came up with these?! Secondly, she looks almost as old as Camilla, the first pics looks like she just woke up from sleep, I noticed she’s really embracing the highnecklines to cover her aging neck too.
High necklines! I shall have to try that. While I have been lucky enough to continue aging (the alternative sucks) I just haven’t been lucky enough to do it without evidence showing on my face, hell maybe my neck, knees and hands too.
Thanks for the tip.
@AllKindsOfSugar lol
I wouldn’t call it aging badly. I would put her in the middle of what women her age look like—some look younger, some look older.
I think she always looked sort of mid-30s. When she was younger, she looked older than her age. She looks her age now. I wouldn’t call that aging badly.
I think she looks beautiful. She is 37 and looks more or less her age, is that a bad thing? Such shaming we women continue to do on women who age in the spotlight is bad for all of us.
I so agree and find this shaming women so disheartening. Not everyone has the same lucky esthetics or genetics.
Kate’s a year older than Diana was when she died. She’s blessed with those wrinkles, as we all are for aging each year. FFS.
I saw that they didn’t leave Lahore today until 1pm and that’s why all their events were cancelled – so I wonder if they were really quite traumatized and needed a break/not go up in a bumpy helicopter ride?
I feel for them and everyone on that plane – sounds terrible.
@THEOG same here… she looks really happy and her fashion is on point, but I guess it’s easy when you can spend as much as you want and not have anyone in the British press criticizing you anymore. Lol still waiting for these price tags…
That black & white kurta is gorgeous. 100% would wear it myself.
I would if I didn’t look like a dumpling in these silhouettes. I’ve always been envious of those with a little more height who can pull off these looks.
She does look good. But it is difficult not to look good in clothing from the Pakistani/Indian region. The clothes are beautiful, and at the same time comfortable and practical. I visited India once and immediately fell in love with the styles and have several outfits which as an African woman l wear in the U.K. in the summer and in other countries. Asian women, poor or rich , dress beautifully in my opinion.
I agree!! I love the entire ensemble, including the shoes FOR ONCE!
the black shoes…
I think this tour is the best Kate has ever looked. I mentioned it yesterday but I’ll say it again, she needs to invest in some long pants and tunics. They flatter her figure and she finally looks regal.
Getting Jackie O in the 1970s vibes here (a good thing). Sophisticated and age-appropriate without being frumpy.
Scary flight sure, great outfits yes, but more importantly – they’re at a canine center – WE NEED DOG PICS!
Wait, what was terrifying about the flight? They diverted to avoid a storm and landed safely. They weren’t IN the storm. ???? That’s inconvenient, not terrifying.
Kate reportedly described it as “pretty bumpy up there”, keeping in mind the british mastery of understatement.
They were in the storm–royal reporters on twitter had film of the plane flying through lightning. And others on the plane said it was awful.
They tried to land in Islamabad twice and the footage posted by the photographer and others looks pretty scary. There were some nice comments from the press pack of William going to the back of the plane to make sure everyone was ok and making a joke to lighten things up.
That’s nice to hear!
Not surprising at all. My mom has told me, a mere serf, to always pack extra underwear and such. I’m sure she is always well prepared.
I’m sure there are several extra outfits (probably one for each day) packed for emergencies and other problems.
Are they still there? The longest five days ever. Trousers and tunics and scarves, oh my!
Not surprised that she is NOT using smart works tote!We already know how LITTLE they think of Meghan🙄
What?
Meghan didn’t wear any piece from the capsule collection on the SA tour either.
But you are right, it’s a missed opportunity…
*in — Yesterday, they were Lahore for a day of activities
*on — they were supposed to fly back to Islamabad in Thursday evening
*be — Emergency hotel accommodations had to secured for William, Kate
*is — This kurta is is from the Pakistani brand Elan
*by — And almost be accident, she’s just now learning that actually
How are there five different typos in such a short story?! I usually refrain from commenting on this, but come on! It’s so distracting… I really don’t get how you leave so many when there are several of you, don’t you read each other’s posts?!