London:
Fashion conscious Kate Middleton will reportedly be packing 12-15 outfits for her six-day visit to India and Bhutan after an advance team completed a recce of locations, including the iconic Taj Mahal. Kate, 34, and Prince William, 33, will fly into Mumbai next Sunday for the trip and the Duchess of Cambridge will be packing alongside her daytime dresses and evening gowns, a surprise addition—a pair of hiking boots.
Kate will take 12-15 outfits for the six days of official visits, the Telegraph reported. Whilst the Royal couple are in Bhutan they will go on a six-hour trek to Tiger’s Nest monastery said to require peak physical fitness and hiking gear, likely to be the 106 pounds Hillmaster boots the Duchess last wore when she visited Borneo’s jungle.
The official tour starts in Mumbai on April 10, and the Duke and Duchess will travel to New Delhi, the Kaziranga National Park and Thimphu, capital of the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, apart from their visit to the Taj Mahal.
A small team have made a rehearsal trip to India and Bhutan, on which Kate’s private secretary Rebecca Deacon made notes on factors to consider about the locations the Duchess will visit, so that she has an idea of what outfits will and won’t work, the daily said.
The team took a photograph of every place the Duchess will visit, so that she can use these images as a guide to determine how formal she needs to dress and what colours will look best against the backdrops.
“She is in charge of it herself and takes an interest in paying tribute to the host country with nods to their culture and local style on at least a few of the engagements,” a royal source was quoted as saying.
“The important factor on this tour is the heat, so that’s an issue that plays a big part in the choice of outfits,” the source said.
On previous royal tours Kate has made a point of dressing diplomatically—wearing a dress by Canadian born designer Erdem Moralioglu to touch down in Montreal, for example.
She wore a dress by Australian label Zimmermann whilst on Australia’s Manley Beach, and on her three-day trip to New York in 2014 she wore two pieces from American designers, a Tory Burch coat and J Crew jeans.
Just a few days after it was announced the Duke and Duchess would be travelling to India, Kate wore a dress by Indian designer Saloni for a function in London, hinting perhaps that she will also rely on the designer’s print and colour filled collection for the upcoming tour.The Duchess’ personal assistant, Natasha Archer, will accompany her on the royal tour, as will her hairdresser Amanda Cook Tucker.
