The Princess of Wales was in a familiar style for today’s Rugby World Cup Quarter-Final match between England and Fiji.
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The match was at the Stade de Marseille. Embed from Getty Images
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England’s rugby team had a strong supporter in the stands for their quarterfinal match against Fiji: their royal patron, Kate Middleton!
The Princess of Wales, 41, traveled to the Stade de Marseille in France to support the English squad in the Rugby World Cup as the team faced Fiji on Sunday.
England Rugby Tweeted a photo of the Princess.
Brilliant as always to have our patron Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales in attendance in Marseille.#ENGvFIJ | #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/gPyuXNjt4l
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) October 15, 2023
The Princess was seated with Rob Bryers, President of the Rugby Football Union, and Sir Bill Beaumont CBE, Chairperson of World Rugby.
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A quick video from NBC.
Royalty spotted. 👑
Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, is in the crowd cheering on England.#RWC2023 | 📺: @peacock pic.twitter.com/v0NrWnuHjf
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) October 15, 2023
Many readers will recall the Princess’s attendance at the England vs. Argentina match in September. Another view of the Princess today.
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Today’s appearance by the Princess follows Prince William and Prince George’s attendance at yesterday’s Wales vs. Argentina match, which the Argentinians won, eliminating Wales from the World Cup.
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More from this Hello story.
The match marks a royal first for the ten-year-old, as it’s his first time travelling overseas to watch a game.
Prince William and Prince George arrived at Stade de Marseille to see the action, with George a mini-me of William, with both wearing navy suits and red ties – the latter seemingly a patriotic nod to the Welsh side.
The Princess had some fans in the crowd today. The sign on the left translates (roughly) to “Kate, get a divorce and marry me!” The sign on the right essentially says, “Not him, Kate, me!” (I hope my translation is close to accurate; please let me know if I am wrong.)
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During the halftime break, the Princess chatted with a young man.
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After 80 minutes of play, England emerged victorious. Below, England’s Owen Farrell and Joe Marler celebrate.
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The Guardian’s quick take on the victory:
“It wasn’t pretty, but they won’t care. England are through the semi-finals of a World Cup!”
And a social media post from Kensington Palace.
Into the semi-finals! Congratulations @EnglandRugby 🏉 https://t.co/EmfCfcR9ZO
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) October 15, 2023
More on the match comes via The Daily Mail’s sports report.
England survived a huge scare to make it five wins out of five at this World Cup, reach the last four and leave themselves two games from glory, as the last home nation standing in France.
Owen Farrell’s late drop goal and penalty clinched a successful return to the towering arena where the national team launched their campaign here with a thumping win over Argentina.
Next Saturday night, England will play South Africa in a semi-final match at Stade de France, north of Paris.
England Rugby posted a photo of the Princess with players after the match.
𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 👏
Great to have our patron Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales in attendance in Marseille 🌹#ENGvFIJ | #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/UE0zBFvlNg
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) October 15, 2023
Another view of the post-match visit as the Princess congratulates Manu Tuilagi.Embed from Getty Images
And one more photo.
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Now for our look at what Kate wore, beginning with the Zara Double-Breasted Textured Weave Jacket (no longer available). The jacket is made of a nubby cotton/acrylic/poly blend fabric with a fitted silhouette, flap pockets, peaked lapels, and embossed gold buttons.
A closer look at the details.
It was first worn at a February engagement celebrating Captain Preet Chandi’s solo expedition across Antarctica.
Today’s trousers could be the Princess’s Rolan Mouret Axon style, but I’m not comfortable saying they are that pair without more photos.
Her handbag looked like a style we’d not seen her carry previously. Data Duchess and Kate Middleton Style chatted about the bag on Twitter.
Looks like Chanel! pic.twitter.com/HPhxfNmBXi
— Data Duchess (@dataduchess2) October 15, 2023
A WKW friend who wishes to remain anonymous suggests the Princess carried Chanel’s Mini Flap Bag in black lambskin (£3960). This bag measures 5.3″ × 6.6″ × 3.1″, which seems to match the size of the Princess’s bag.
We won’t know until we see better pictures of the bag, but this looks like a good possibility.
It looked like the Princess repeated her Lenique Louis Spine Hoop Earrings ($550), shown below as worn on another occasion. The earrings are described as “a playful take on coral reef, easy to wear and lightweight.” They were first noted last December during an engagement at Harvard University.