Kate Middleton cut a stylish figure in a recycled floral dress as she joined Prince William to visit Gavin & Stacey’s slot machine arcade in South Wales on Wednesday.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, both 38, paid a secret visit to the iconic ‘Nessa’s’ arcade in Barry Island, where they heard from local business owners about the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism sector, before travelling to Shire Hall Care Home in Cardiff where they spoke to staff, residents and their family members.
In the hit BBC comedy show, Nessa has a series of odd jobs – including working the slots at the Island Leisure Amusement Arcade along the promenade – which features everything from flashing machines and even a board outside which says, ‘Nessa’s Slots – Come and see what’s occurrin.’
And it seems the invite was enticing for the royals – whose visit to Barry Island has come as businesses in Wales have started to reopen their doors to the public as lockdown measures have started to ease.
Kate typically elegant in the £1,635 designer dress by Emelia Wickstead, which she complemented with a pair of chic tan wedges.
The mother-of-three first donned the pastel blue belted dress, which featured a pink floral pattern, when she opened her Back to Nature garden at RHS Wisley in Surrey in September 2019.
Kate Middleton, 38, cut a stylish figure in a pastel blue £1,635 designer dress by Emelia Wickstead as she joined Prince William to visit Gavin & Stacey’s slot machine arcade in South Wales on Wednesday
Kate, who paired her floral ensemble with tan wedges, first wore the designer dress when she opened her Back to Nature garden at RHS Wisley in Surrey in September 2019. Pictured, with Prince William
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (pictured) paid a secret visit to the iconic ‘Nessa’s’ arcade in Barry Island, where they heard from local business owners about the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism sector
The Duke and Duchess visited Island Leisure amusements arcade to meet the owners and staff members ahead of the arcade reopening to the public later in the day, before joining vendors from some of the other businesses based on Barry’s promenade at Marco’s Café.
There, they heard about the impact that closing has had on the businesses during a typically busy period for the seaside resort, which attracted 424,000 visitors in 2019, and the measures they have put in place to allow them to start reopening in a safe and secure manner.
The Duke and Duchess also visited the beach huts on the eastern end of the promenade which have been installed as part of the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s £6m regeneration project in Barry.
The project has also seen the restoration of the promenade and shelter, and the installation of new public art and entertainment spaces, a climbing wall and water feature.
In the hit BBC comedy show, Nessa has a series of odd jobs – including working the slots at the Island Leisure Amusement Arcade (pictured) – which features everything from flashing machines and even a board outside which says, ‘Nessa’s Slots – Come and see what’s occurrin’
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge leave Island Leisure Amusement Arcade, where Gavin and Stacey was filmed and walk along the promenade, during their visit to Barry Island
The royal couple even took the chance to play a grab a teddy game at Island Leisure Amusement Arcade, where the BBC it comedy Gavin and Stacey was filmed
The couple’s visit to Barry Island has come as businesses in Wales have started to reopen their doors to the public as lockdown measures have started to ease
Kate looked typically elegant in the £1,635 designer dress by Emelia Wickstead and opted to wear her brown locks loose and kept her makeup minimal
During their visit, the couple (pictured) spoke to local business owners about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the tourism sector
They then visited Shire Hall Care Home in Cardiff where they spoke to some of the home’s staff, residents and their family members in the home’s garden.
In May, The Duke and Duchess joined staff and residents from Shire Hall via video call, and took their turn as guest bingo callers for a game in the home’s cinema.
Shire Hall provides residential, nursing and dementia care and is part of Hallmark Care Homes, a family-run care provider with 20 care homes across England and Wales.
During today’s visit, Their Royal Highnesses were able to meet some of the staff and residents from the call in person and heard how the home has continued to adapt in response to the pandemic.
Staff spoke about the measures that have been put in place in order to allow the residents to safely receive visits from family members and friends.
The Duke and Duchess then met a small number of residents and their family members who spoke about the challenges of being unable to visit their loved ones at Page 2 of 2 the beginning of the lockdown, how they kept in touch, and the impact of now being able to visit the home.