The Prince of Wales, Founder and President of the Prince’s Foundation, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duchess of CambridgeAuthor: Louise EastonPublished February 3, 2022
The Duchess of Cambridge has performed a rare joint engagement with the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.
The trio visited the Prince’s Foundation’s Trinity Buoy Wharf, an arts and culture training center in east London, where they met photography and animation students.
They were shown the future textile and cutting workshop, which was once the old hemp shop where dock workers made rope. Alumni and entrepreneurs from the Modern Artisan project, a collaboration between the Prince’s Foundation and YOOX Net-a-Porter Group, spoke to Charles, Camilla and Kate about the techniques behind traditional kilt making and silk smocking.
Charles personally invited his daughter-in-law to join him and Camilla in the engagement due to her interest and longstanding support of the arts and creative industries.
Kate’s patrons include the National Portrait Gallery, V&A and the Royal Photographic Society.
The Duchesses each received a cream bucket bag made from sustainable silk and a pink scrunchie for Princess Charlotte, made by Nicole Christie, a graduate of The Modern Artisan program.
Miss Christie, 26, from East Kilbride, Scotland, has launched her own luxury womenswear collection – Ellipsis.
She said: “I showed the Duchesses my collection and gave them each one of my bags, which are due to be launched in March.
“Everything is designed, patterned and handcrafted by myself. I don’t know what Ellipsis would have become if it weren’t for the prince.”
Miss Christie revealed that Kate, who is known for appearing in glamorous evening dresses, particularly admired one of the full length Ellipsis silk dresses on display.
The Prince of Wales, Founder and President of the Prince’s Foundation, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duchess of Cambridge
The trio also took a life drawing class, although possible blushing was spared as the model was fully clothed.
Camilla told 19-year-old Imogen Lewis, from Suffolk: “It looks so fun. How long do you have to do this?”
Hildy Biernoff, 20, from London, said: “Kate told me she was blown away by all the different styles that everyone has.
“She said if you take a step back and look at everyone’s drawings, it shows a different aspect of her perception of what we’re all seeing.”
Charles, a keen artist himself, spoke to Hannah Ffytche, 19, from London, and said: “It must be very scary when you have a blank page in front of you and you have a time limit. Where do you possibly start?”
Hannah said afterwards, “He was very interested in life drawing and said he saw a connection to nature and everyday life in it, which is a good perspective.”
The Duchess of Cornwall and the Duchess of Cambridge
The Prince’s Foundation runs courses for all ages at Trinity Buoy Wharf in traditional building skills such as thatching, blacksmithing and stone carving, as well as related skills such as geometry and sculpture.
The charity’s Future Textiles program aims to fill the gap created by the decline of sewing and textiles as part of the school curriculum.
Kate made a joint visit with Charles and Camilla for the first time in 2012 to support the Prince’s charities at the Dulwich Picture Gallery.
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