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For the first time in two years, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended the 1st Battalion Irish Guards’ St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Kate and Prince William joined the Irish Guards at the celebration on Thursday at Mons Barracks in Aldershot, England.
Kate, who passed out sprigs of shamrock to officers and their mascot Seamus, the Irish Wolfhound, got into the spirit wearing an emerald green military wool by Laura Green. The Duchess completed her festive St. Patrick’s Day look with a matching Lock Hatters pillbox hat and a shamrock brooch. Meanwhile, William, who is Colonel of the Irish Guards, was dressed in uniform.
The Duke took the salute following the parade. Kate was pictured laughing as Lieutenant Colonel Rob Money placed his bearskin hat over his 20-month-old daughter Gaia’s head during the outing. “That’s so sweet,” the Duchess said (via HELLO! ). “Do you fit inside it?”
Gaia’s grandmother Mary Money later shared (via HELLO!) that William and Kate “expressed regret as they had been unable to see the regiment for many years because they have been serving in Iraq [and] South Sudan and Covid last year. So it was a great reunion.”
Thursday, March 17, marked the first time the Duke and Duchess have attended the parade since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, with a majority of the Regiment deployed overseas, the couple celebrated St. Patrick’s Day by sharing photos of the Irish Guards, and last year both William and Kate joined world leaders in a video message released by the Irish Foreign Ministry.