Kate Middleton easily passed muster yesterday as she carried out her first military engagement as a royal alongside her husband Prince William.
The Duchess of Cambridge charmed soldiers as she handed out medals to the 1st Battalion Irish Guards on Armed Forces Day.
During the visit to Victoria Barracks in Windsor, Berks, Kate bent down to talk to Lance Corporal Scott Yarrington, 26, who had both legs amputated after an explosion in Afghanistan.
And William presented a medal to Guardsman Lamin Manneh, 33, who lost his legs and left arm in the same incident, which killed two comrades.
The blast was just days before the two men were due to return home from a six-month tour in Helmand province.
The couple met the families of father-of-two Major Matthew Collins, 38, and Lance Sergeant Mark Burgan, 28, who died in the blast, and William presented them with the Elizabeth Cross for the families of soldiers killed on operations. Relatives of Guardsman Christopher Davies, 22, killed in an ambush last November, also received the honour.
Wearing a double-breasted crepe navy officer’s coat by Alexander McQueen – the same fashion house who designed her wedding dress – Kate looked relaxed as she shared jokes with troops.
