Duchess Kate’s cream scalloped coat by Catherine Walker had a lacy effect that brought to mind the iconic Alexander McQueen creation in which then-Kate Middleton walked down the cathedral’s aisle on April 29, 2011. This time, instead of her father Michael Middleton, she was accompanied by her husband of 10 years, Prince William, and instead of exchanging vows the couple were there to pay their respects to the 126,000 lives COVID-19 has claimed in the past year in Britain. At the shrine of Edward the Confessor, William lit a candle and Kate laid a bunch of daffodils in recognition of Britain’s National Day of Reflection, which marks one year since lockdown began. Westminster Abbey is also the site of a pop-up vaccination center, with 2000 people a week receiving their vaccinations in the Poet’s Corner in the cathedral’s south transept. Staff, volunteers and people there for their vaccinations were among the people that Kate and William chatted to below the soaring beams of the highest Gothic vault in England. Both Kate and William wore blue surgical masks for their visit, with Kate’s hair pulled back to reveal her baroque pearl drop earrings by Annoushka. Next up, ‘Papa Is Missing You’: Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis Write Sweet Mother’s Day Cards to Princess Diana
