Kate Middleton joins Princess Anne on their FIRST joint royal engagement

Kate Middleton looked perfectly poised as she joined Princess Anne on their first joint royal engagement to visit maternity healthcare organisations today.

The Duchess of Cambridge, 40, and the Princess Royal, 71, arrived together at the headquarters of their respective patronages, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), in London.

Appearing typically stylish, mother-of-three Kate donned an elegant £400 Self Portrait oatmeal dress, which was cinched at the waist with a dainty belt and featured delicate floral details, while Princess Anne opted for a teal coat and matching scarf.

While the pair have appeared in public together at previous family engagements, this is the first time the Duchess and Princess have teamed up for an outing which sees just the two of them attending.

In 2018, the Duchess became the patron of the RCOG and the Princess Royal has been patron of the RCM for 20 years, with both their roles previously held by the Queen Mother. 

During the outing, the Princess Royal left midwives and the Duchess of Cambridge in stitches when she recalled fearing one of her babies had become ‘wedged’ when she tripped over in a horse lorry while heavily pregnant. 

The royal duo (pictured right, departing the engagement) watch a demonstration of a mock emergency caesarean operation by Dr Katie Cornthwaite using a dummy, pictured left

The Princess Royal and the Duchess of Cambridge appear to be focused when watching a mock emergency caesarean

Kate looked perfectly poised as she joined Princess Anne on their first joint royal engagement to visit maternity healthcare organisations today (pictured)

Appearing typically stylish, mother-of-three Kate (pictured) donned an elegant £400 Self Portrait oatmeal dress, which was cinched at the waist with a dainty belt and featured delicate floral details

In 2018, the Duchess became the patron of the RCOG and the Princess Royal (pictured together) has been patron of the RCM for 20 years, with both their roles previously held by the Queen Mother 

The Queen’s daughter was chatting to maternity experts while being shown a demonstration of a new Intrapartum Foetal Surveillance tool, which monitors the safety of babies during labour in order to alert medical staff to start a delivery if the baby’s head gets stuck in the mother’s pelvis.

‘Wedged?’ asked Anne, to laughter.

The princess – who is a mother to Peter Phillips, 44, and Zara Tindall, 40 – then told the group how she feared that would happen to her during one of her pregnancies, adding: ‘I thought, that’s a bit interesting… ended up the right way up though.’

Professor Tim Draycott, vice president of RCOG and Professor of Obstetrics – who was helping to demonstrate the tool, said later: ‘She said she had tripped over in a horse lorry while heavily pregnant and thought that had happened.’

The tool has been developed over the past five years by the Avoiding Brain Injury in Childbirth collaboration, which hopes to pilot it later this year and roll it out nationwide in 2023.

For her outing today, Kate kept her long locks loose and sported a smattering of glamorous makeup, as well as a £125 pearl necklace from Monica Vinader and a pair of dainty Annoushka pearl earrings.

Completing her look with a matching oatmeal Emmy London clutch and a pair of nude Gianvito Rossi heels, Kate’s midi wrap dress featured a long sleeve bodice, a fitted waist and pleated midi skirt, as well as accentuated shoulder pads.

Looking equally sophisticated, Princess Anne opted for a long-sleeved coat, teamed with elegant black shoes for outing with the Duchess.

Completing her look with a matching oatmeal Emmy London clutch and a pair of nude Gianvito Rossi heels, Kate’s (pictured) midi wrap dress featured a long sleeve bodice, a fitted waist and pleated midi skirt, as well as accentuated shoulder pads

Princess Anne (pictured right) opted for a long-sleeved coat, teamed with elegant black shoes for outing with the Duchess

The Princess Royal and the Duchess of Cambridge receive flowers as they leave the RCM and RCOG headquarters in London

For her outing today, Kate (pictured) kept her long locks loose and sported a smattering of glamorous makeup, as well as a £125 pearl necklace from Monica Vinader and a pair of dainty pearl earrings

When the princess and duchess arrived they were welcomed by RCM chief executive Gill Walton and RCOG president Dr Edward Morris. 

The royal duo heard about the ways in which the RCM and the RCOG are working together to improve maternal health care, ensuring women are receiving the safest and best care possible at one of the most significant times in their lives.

Home to a collection of women’s healthcare organisations, the headquarters has been designed by the RCOG to foster collaboration across the sector. 

The royals met with representatives from Tommy’s National Centre for Maternity Improvement, and learnt about the innovative digital tools that are being developed to identify and support women with higher risk pregnancies.

The duchess and the princess watched Dr Katie Cornthwaite, an obstetrics and gynaecology registrar, give a demonstration of new training for health workers faced with delivering, via caesarean, an infant whose head is wedged in the pelvis – an issue that is a growing litigation problem for the NHS.

While the pair (pictured) have appeared in public together at previous family engagements, this is the first time the Duchess and Princess have teamed up for an outing which sees just the two of them attending

The Princess Royal and the Duchess of Cambridge’s (pictured) rare joint engagement comes as Princess Anne remains one of the hardest working royals, taking on 148 official engagements in 2020

A beaming Princess Anne (pictured right, alongside the Duchess of Cambridge) opted for a teal coat and matching scarf

The royal duo (pictured) also share one of the same royal titles- The Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO), which was given to them by the Queen to highlight their service to the Royal Family

Every year, the Royal College of Midwives celebrates and rewards outstanding achievement and commitment with the RCM Awards, and the royal duo (pictured) will congratulate recent recipients on their inspiring work

The Duchess of Cambridge leaves the RCM and RCOG headquarters in London with several bouquets of flowers

Professor Draycott acted as the anaesthetist for the pretend mother, standing by her head, but was actually pushing the model of the baby through for his colleague. Anne made the medical staff laugh when she quipped: ‘You do this with just an epidural?’

At one point, the duchess and princess leaned forward to peer into the caesarean opening as Dr Cornthwaite described in detail how she removed the dummy baby.

Anne, as the senior royal, appeared to take the lead during the rare joint engagement, asking most of the questions and sharing her knowledge about the midwifery sector.

When she sat down with Kate and the global health teams from RCOG and the RCM, Anne brought up the issue of how mothers are sometimes kept in the dark about their treatment by the medical profession.

She said: ‘Pregnant women, they should know just as much as everybody else does but they’re seen, as I’ve said before, “you’re seen as a patient you don’t need to be part of the answer”.’ 

Before leaving the royal women (pictured left) unveiled a plaque to mark the opening of the building (pictured right)

Anne (pictured in an image shared by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Instagram account), as the senior royal, appeared to take the lead during the rare joint engagement, asking most of the questions and sharing her knowledge about the midwifery sector

The royal women also met groups of award-winning midwives recognised by the RCM for their outstanding achievement and commitment.

At one point, the Princess Royal asked one woman how long she had been working as a midwife, and when told ’20 years’ replied ‘we need more like you’. Before leaving the royal women unveiled a plaque to mark the opening of the building.

The Princess Royal and the Duchess of Cambridge’s rare joint engagement comes as Princess Anne remains one of the hardest working royals, taking on 148 official engagements in 2020.

The royal duo also share one of the same royal titles- The Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO), which was given to them by the Queen to highlight their service to the Royal Family.