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June 9 marks a special anniversary for Prince William and Kate Middleton . Nine years ago on this date, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge made their first public appearance as a married couple. The newlyweds stepped out for the ARK 10th Anniversary Gala Dinner held at Kensington Palace. Kate looked every bit a Princess, dazzling in a pearlescent rose sequin gown by Jenny Packham. The Duchess teamed the floor-length number, which featured Swarovski crystal and layered mesh inserts at the neckline, with rose suede L.K. Bennett sandals and a pink satin Prada box clutch. The newly minted royal let her hair down for the formal affair. Meanwhile, Kate’s Prince looked dapper in a classic black tux with a bow tie.
According to HOLA! USA’s sister brand HELLO!, guests at the reception were entertained by a team of Mexican divers performing an acrobatic routine. During Prince William’s remarks, he joked: “I would like to share with you the conversation I am going to have with my grandmother tomorrow as I try and describe this; the swimming pool outside and the men wearing the tightest speedos I have ever seen in my life.”
The outing came less than two months after William and Kate’s fairy-tale royal wedding (April 29). Although the gala dinner was their first appearance following their honeymoon in the Seychelles, the Duke and Duchess met with then-President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama at Buckingham Palace on May 24 during the American couple’s state visit to the UK.
Since their public debut almost a decade ago, Kate and William have welcomed three children together— Prince George , Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis . The Duke recently opened up about parenthood and how he and the Duchess “support each other.” “We go through those moments together and we kind of evolve and learn together,” William said in the BBC documentary Football, Prince William and Our Mental Health. “I think that emotionally things come out of the blue that you don’t ever expect or that maybe you think you’ve dealt with. So I can completely relate to what you’re saying about children coming along, it’s one of the most amazing moments of life but it’s also one of the scariest.”