Kate Middleton joins Prince William at the Noël Coward Theatre

Kate Middleton cut a fashionable figure as she arrived at the Noël Coward Theatre alongside Prince William in Covent Garden this evening.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge looked smart for their attendance of the special performance of Dear Evan Hansen, which is being held in aid of The Royal Foundation. 

Kate opted for a black custom Eponine dress tweed dress with embellished buttons, which she teamed with her £525 silver Jimmy Choos, worn at the BAFTA awards and the Addiction Awareness Week charity gala last year, and a new matching £675 clutch. 

William, 37, and Kate, 38, will watch the show and meet members of the cast before the Duke will make short remarks at the end of the performance. Their appearance came as Prince Harry landed in Scotland, where he will be hosting a summit tomorrow.

And Kate cut a glamorous figure as she smiled at royal fans waiting at the entrance, sporting blow-drived waves and flashing her famous engagement ring. She was sporting a pair of diamond chandelier earrings, previously worn in 2017, on loan from the Queen.

William looked smart himself, sporting a blue suit, crisp white shirt and spotted tie as they made their way into the theatre.

The couple posted a number of pictures from the evening on their Kensington Royal Instagram, the caption said: ‘The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended a special performance of Dear Evan Hansen @dehwestend, held in aid of The Royal Foundation. 

‘The musical @dearevanhansen has been credited with helping to start important conversations about mental health between parents and teenagers. The issue of mental health is a key priority for The Royal Foundation which works to tackle the stigma and encourage more people to talk openly about their mental health. 

‘@GiveUsAShoutInsta, a free and confidential 24/7 UK text messaging helpline that supports people in crisis and was developed by The Royal Foundation, is one of four not-for-profit partners of the show which provide mental health resources to audiences and beyond.

The musical, which won six Tony Awards after opening on Broadway in 2016, is about an anxiety-ridden boy struggling to connect in a hyperconnected world.

It has been credited with helping parents and their children discuss some of the mental health difficulties facing so many young people in Britain and the western world.

In a video shortly before the show started, people can be seen standing up as a sign of respect to Prince William and Kate Middleton as they take to their seats. But William, flashing a smile, gestures with his hands for fellow theatre-goers to sit down.

Inside the foyer of the Noel Coward Theatre in central London, the royal couple chatted about the mental health theme to the play’s author, Steven Levenson, and composers Justin Paul and Benj Pasek.

‘Ten years ago, do you think this play would have been here?’ William asked.

‘I don’t think it would have even existed,’ Mr Pasek said.

After the show the royal couple went back stage and met the cast, praising them for the power of their performance and the ability of the British actors to hold an American accent for the entire play.

‘It’s quite difficult to keep the twanggoing,’ William said.

‘Guys, that was amazing.’

He said he and Kate has wondered how the play would deal with the serious themes of social anxiety and suicide in the plot.

He said they had wondered: ‘How’s this going to work? It could go either way. It could be too serious and everyone would go, ‘Oh my God this is quite intense’ or it’s too thin.’

But be told them: ‘You nailed it with the humour.’

The second in line to the throne added: ‘There are so many emotions and feelings. You had every spectrum.’

Organisers declined to say how much the show would raise for the foundation’s mental health campaigns, which include the text messaging helpline Shout, William’s Heads Up campaign to use football to persuade fans to talk about their mental health, and the earlier Heads Together campaign.

In a programme note, William said: ‘Catherine and I are delighted to join you this evening for a special charity performance of Dear Evan Hansen at the Noel Coward Theatre.

‘One of the issues that we care passionately about is mental health and we are pleased that Dear Evan Hansen is helping to start important conversations between parents and teenagers about this important subject.

‘Through initiatives including Heads Together and Heads Up, the Royal Foundation is helping tackle the stigma and change the conversation around mental health.

‘We are particularly proud that Shout , a mental health support service launched by the Royal Foundation, is one of four not-for-profit partners of Dear Evan Hansen providing mental health resources to audiences of the show.

‘As we look to the future, we will continue to deliver ambitious change and genuine, sustainable solutions to some of the biggest challenges we face – including the environment and ensuring young people get the best possible start in life.’

The musical has been running at the Noel Coward Theatre in St Martin’s Lane since November last year. 

The Award-winning musical spans generations and has been credited with helping to start important conversations about mental health between parents and teenagers, a priority for the Cambridges’ foundation. 

Dear Evan Hansen tells the timely and timeless story of Evan, a boy who is struggling to connect in our hyperconnected world.  

The issue of mental health is a key priority for The Royal Foundation which works to tackle the stigma and encourage more people to talk openly about their mental health. 

Shout 85258, a free and confidential 24/7 UK text messaging helpline that supports people in crisis and was developed by The Royal Foundation, is one of four not-for-profit partners of the show which provide mental health resources to audiences and beyond. 

The Duke of Cambridge is currently spearheading Heads Up, a season-long campaign which uses the influence and popularity of football to show the nation that mental health is just as important as physical health. 

It follows on from the Heads Together campaign which convened eight charity partners with one voice, encouraged more people in Britain to talk openly about mental health than ever before, and led to more people accessing services as a result.

The Royal Foundation is also supporting efforts to provide children with the best possible start in life, recognising that with greater focus on the early years, we can better provide solid social and emotional platforms for children to make them healthier and more resilient later in life. 

In January, The Duchess of Cambridge launched a nationwide survey on the early years – ‘5 big questions on the under 5s’. 

Conducted by Ipsos MORI, it aims to spark the biggest ever conversation on early childhood that will ultimately help bring about lasting change for generations to come. 

The survey follows eight years of work by The Duchess of Cambridge in which she has explored how experiences in early childhood often lie at the root of the hardest social challenges the country faces today.

Dear Evan Hansen features a book by Tony Award-winner Steven Levenson, a score by Academy Award, and Tony and Grammy Award-winning composers Benj Pasek & Justin Paul (The Greatest Showman) and direction by four-time Tony Award nominee Michael Greif (Rent; Next to Normal). 

The musical opened at the Noël Coward Theatre in the West End in November 2019; the show is also playing on Broadway, where it opened in 2016 and won 6 Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

Their appearance came as Prince Harry arrived back in the UK to host a sustainable travel conference in his first visit to Britain since announcing he was quitting as a senior royal in January.

He was pictured this evening arriving at Edinburgh Waverley Station, sporting a black jacket and cap.

The Duke of Sussex will host a summit tomorrow for Travalyst, where he is expected to unveil a new holiday scheme with a ‘scoring system’ to help tourists pick environmentally-friendly flights.

Meghan Markle will appear in London with her husband for an awards ceremony for sick and injured military personnel on March 5, but it is unclear if she and baby Archie are flying over with Harry or are still in Canada, or whether the Cambridges and Sussexes will meet during the visit.