Scouting for Kate: Duchess of Cambridge is latest cover girl for movement's magazine

By Lauren Paxman


Cover girl: The Duchess of Cambridge is the new darling of the scouting world

Anna Wintour may be one of the most successful women in publishing, but she has nothing on Scouting magazine. For they have succeeded where Wintour didn't, by securing the Duchess of Cambridge as a covergirl for their latest issue.

Last October, rumours were abound that the U.S. Vogue editor was desperate to place Catherine on the cover of her magazine. But the Queen was said to have disapproved, and nothing came of it.

Now - just weeks after the announcement that the Duchess is going to help out with her local scout packs - she has been given the ultimate seal of approval.

Although Catherine did not pose for the photo - it is an official picture which was taken shortly before her wedding - she is sure to have approved of it being used for the magazine's cover.

The picture, which shows the Duchess' trademark flowing locks and a wide smile, is accompanied by the headline: 'A Royal Role Model.'

An article on the magazine's website is gushing in its praise of its newest recruit.

In the opening paragraph, the writer asks: 'Where were you when you heard the announcement about the duchess joining Scouting?'

They describe Catherine's involvement in the scouts as 'a boost not just to the beavers and cubs in north Wales whom she will be supporting directly, but to all of us across the UK who are trying to recruit new adults.'

St James' Palace announced that Catherine would be helping out her local troops on an ad hoc basis on January 5.

A spokesman told the Mail that the Duchess had been keen to become involved as she ‘loved the idea of Scouting and working hands-on with children’ and felt it tied in with her own interest and hobbies, particularly the outdoors.

As a former Brownie, the young royal will already have experience of many of the scouts' activities. Now she will be helping to facilitate them.

According to the Scout Association, Kate will lend a hand with the day-to-day working of her packs as well as activities including running games, teaching first aid and helping out with cooking and campfires, as well as helping the girls and boys work towards their badges.

Chief Scout Bear Grylls gave a delighted reaction to the news that she would be helping out.

He said: ‘The Duchess has an incredibly busy life, which makes it all the more inspiring that she has chosen to volunteer alongside us.

‘Over the last few years it has been our mission to make it easier for adults who volunteer with us to give as much or as little as they are able – it is how we change our society: many people doing a little bit.’

The movement hopes that the Duchess' committment will persuade others to take up volunteering too.

Scouting Magazine reads: 'Think about how you can make it work in your area – you might not be able to recruit a duchess, but you can get more people involved by being flexible.

Women have been allowed to join the scouts since 1976 and there are currently 66,000 girl members and 40,000 female leaders.

The movement was founded by Robert Baden-Powell in 1907 to help young people with their ‘physical, mental and spiritual development’.

It requires members to be loyal, friendly, courageous and considerate – as well as keeping to the famous motto to ‘Be Prepared’.

Helping out at the scouts will also see the Duchess pledging allegiance to her grandmother-in-law, the Queen.

The scout promise includes the vow: 'To do my best to do my duty to God and to the Queen, To help other people, And to keep the Scout Law’.

...AND THE DUCHESS ALSO WEARS OUR FAVOURITE FASCINATORS

The Duchess of Cambridge has been voted 'Hat Person of the Year' by The Headwear Association.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Catherine received 91 per cent of the vote. The next favourite headpiece wearer was fashion stylist and designer Rachel Zoe who received just 4 per cent.

The Headwear Association (THA) was founded in 1908 and is the oldest fashion trade association in the industry. Its mission is to promote hat wearing and the headwear industry throughout the world.

This is the third annual Hat Person of the Year competition - and the Duchess is the first woman to win first prize. The previous winners were Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt.

Here are a few of our favourite hats and fascinators which Catherine wore in 2011...


From left: Kate wears a coffee coloured hat to the Epsom Derby, a plum made-to-measure Jane Corbett hat for her first traditional Christmas Day service at Sandringham Church and a cowboy hat during the royal tour


From left: A navy number worn to present medals to the Irish Guards in Windsor, a scarlet headpiece seen during the royal tour of Canada and a cream ensemble debuted at the Wedding of Zara Phillips and MIke Tindall



source:dailymail

Happy birthday Kate! As the Duchess of Cambridge turns 30, FEMAIL brings you 30 facts about our future queen

... And Kate gets a birthday message from reality TV royalty Kim Kardashian


By Deborah Arthurs


Kate, wearing lace Alice Temperley, spent the eve of her 30th birthday at the War Horse premiere in London

1 Catherine Elizabeth Middleton was born to parents Michael and Carole Middleton at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading on January 9 1982.

2 Kate was christened at the parish church of St Andrew's Bradfield in Berkshire on June 20 1982.

3 Aged eight, she became a brownie with the 1st St Andrews pack in Pangbourne, Berkshire.

4 At the age of 13, she went to the £15,000-a-year Marlborough College in Wiltshire.
5 During her time there she represented the college at tennis, hockey and netball. She became captain of the college's hockey team and played in the first pair at tennis.

6 Kate is a keen photographer and took pictures for her parents' mail order business Party Pieces.

7 Amman, the capital of Jordan, was home to Kate and her family for a few years in the mid 1980s.

8 The Duchess has completed her Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award.

9 Hobbies she enjoys include walking, tennis, swimming, sailing, and painting.

10 It was rumoured that at Marlborough College Kate had a poster of her future husband William on her wall. But she has quashed speculation by revealing it was in fact the "Levi's guy" who adorned her bedroom.
11 Kate spent time studying at the British Institute in Florence during a gap year.

12 She also crewed on Round the World Challenge boats in the Solent while taking a break from studies.

13 In 2001, the Duchess enrolled at the University of St Andrews, Fife, from where she graduated in 2005 with a 2:1 in history of art.

14 When an undergraduate she continued playing sports and turned out for the university's hockey team.

15 Kate met her future husband at St Andrews - a university where graduates have around a one in 10 chance of meeting their perfect partner and getting married.

16 The Duchess worked in London as a part-time buyer for the clothing company Jigsaw Junior. When she left without finding a new job, she earned the nickname 'Waity Katie' - despite the fact she was known to help her parents with their party supplies business.

17 Kate and William's first official event together after they got engaged was at Anglesey last February - dedicating a new RNLI lifeboat.

18 Kate followed wedding tradition, and for 'something blue' had a blue ribbon sewn into the interior of her dress.

19 After the wedding ceremony, on April 29 last year, her bouquet was placed on the Grave of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey after the service, continuing a tradition started by the late Queen Mother.

20 The see-through dress which sparked William's interest in Kate when she wore it at a university fashion show in 2002 was auctioned in 2011 for £78,000.

21 The Duchess is descended from a family of solicitors and landed gentry on her father's side and butchers, plasterers, road sweepers and domestic servants on her mother's.

22 During her tour of California and Canada during the summer of 2011 she wore more than 25 outfits, winning her accolades from the world's fashion press.

Kate's first public appearance as a working royal after becoming engaged to William was for the naming of a new Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) vessel in Anglesey, in February last year

23 Whenever she is photographed wearing high street fashion the garment quickly sells out - one Reiss dress, the Shola bandage dress, sold at a rate of one a minute after Kate was pictured wearing it. As such, Kate has widely been credited with reviving flagging interest in the British high street, transforming the fortunes of her favoured brands such as Zara and Reiss.

24 The Duchess is an official ambassador for Team GB and Paralympic GB.

25 With her husband William she will travel to Malaysia, Singapore, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee this year.

26 When in the capital Kate sometimes uses the London bike hire scheme - and London Mayor Boris Johnson gave Kate and William a tandem Boris bike as a wedding present.

27 She is patron of Action on Addiction and the National Portrait Gallery, and royal patron of East Anglia's Children's Hospices and The Art Room. She is also a volunteer with the Scout Association and in the future will join activities privately with groups in north Wales and other areas.

Traditional bride Kate wore something blue on her wedding day - a small piece of ribbon stitched on the underside of her Sarah Burton wedding gown


28 Although Kate could have a private chef at her disposal, she prefers to do the majority of the cooking for herself and William, and is often spotted shopping at Waitrose on Anglesely and, when she is at Kensington Palace, at the Waitrose on Kensington High Street. Kate even surprised shoppers at Tesco last month when she shopped at the supermarket, stocking up on essentials including Kellogg's Special K.

29 Kate is not allergic to horses, as has been widely reported. At last night's War Horse premiere she steered clear of the horse on the red carpet - but only to protect her Alice Temperley gown. 'The horse was leaving piles of manure everywhere,' an onlooker said.

30 Contrary to previous reports, Kate will not move in with Camilla and Charles when William is posted to the Falklands next month. Instead, Kate plans to use the time to embark upon her charity work.


Aged 29, Kate had blossomed into a confident duchess. Right, aged just eight, Kate enrolled as a brownie with the 1st St Andrews pack in Pangbourne, Berkshire






source:dailymail

Lustrous locks: Kate and the secrets of a glossy Chelsea blow-dry

By Nicole Mowbray


Glowing: Kate's lustrous locks this week on a visit to a shelter for homeless young people in South London


The big question all Kate-watchers are asking is: what has the Duchess of Cambridge done to her hair — and, more importantly, how can we get the look ourselves?

This week, visiting a London homeless shelter with Prince William, she wore a daringly figure-hugging Ralph Lauren sweater dress — but all eyes were on her luxuriant chestnut locks, cascading into big, shiny, bouncy curls worthy of a L’Oreal advert.

The polished style Kate favours, with its loose, subtle movement, even has its own nickname. It’s become known as the Chelsea Blow Dry because it’s the brainchild of Chelsea-based hairdresser Richard Ward, and is favoured by other glossy celebrities such as Elle Macpherson and Kelly Brook.


But Kate’s well-tended locks have been transformed over the years from the pleasant mousey tresses she sported at university to a lustrous mane that is the envy of women the world over. So how has she done it?

The Richard Ward team has tended the locks of not only Kate but the entire Middleton family, including Pippa and Carole, for years. Here, he tells us how you can recreate the look yourself.

The Cut

The bad news is that unless you have shoulder-blade length hair to begin with, copying the Duchess will take patience.

Richard advises that it is likely to take someone with shoulder-length hair at least five or six months to grow theirs to Kate’s length — shorter layers should also be grown out because the hair needs to be at one length in order to cut in those expensive-looking layers.

‘Long layers are the key to this look,’ he says. ‘They give free-flowing hair lots of movement — if the layers are too short you don’t get that kind of fluidity throughout the cut. Aim for a side-swept, chin-length fringe and then ask your hairdresser to gently graduate longer layers down from there.’

Once you’ve achieved the ‘Kate’, it doesn’t need to be re-cut as often as other styles. ‘It’s proving popular with so many people because you don’t have to cut every six weeks as usual, you can actually get 12 weeks out of this cut,’ says Richard.

Who said gentlemen prefer blondes? Kate's glossy chestnut glow is the shade women want to emulate

‘Ideally you might want a trim every eight weeks — but a word of warning, anything longer than 12 weeks and it will have grown out so much that your hairdresser will have to re-style your hair each time, too.’

The Colour

Gentlemen prefer blondes? Not now it seems, as Kate’s glossy chestnut glow is the shade everyone wants to emulate.

In order to recreate a similar colour to Kate’s natural tone, Richard suggests an organic vegetable colour to give gloss and shine which will gradually fade over time. ‘At the salon we use L’Oreal Symbio and Fuente Organic colour.

These salon professional colours are ultra conditioning and give richness and intensity. The colour ebbs away naturally and you only need to have it re-done every few months,’ he says.

Richard suggests opting for a dark brunette shade with mahogany tones to emulate Kate’s shade. For fuller depth, Richard advises combining a colour gloss treatment with lowlights.

‘Ask your stylist for three different shades of lowlights, one lighter than your natural base colour, one about the same and one slightly darker to create a multi-tonal affect in the same hues. Dying just a few strands of hair in each shade, as opposed to large sections, achieves a more natural look.’

Richard Ward's salon in London's Chelsea

While at 29, the Duchess has youth on her side, Richard says that her signature shade is just as flattering on a more mature woman too, as the combination of semi-permanent colour and lowlights is clever way to hide the impending grey.

Treatments

How does she get that healthy frizz-free sheen? Keratin treatments have long been the secret of well-groomed women who spend serious money on their image. Although the Duchess has never confirmed she’s had one, this intensive treatment totally transforms unruly or frizzy hair.

The procedure has a few different brand names including the ‘permanent blow dry’, but all work on the same principle of restoring sleekness by infusing it with keratin — a natural protein found in the hair.

‘The attraction of Kate’s style is how healthy her hair looks,’ says Richard. ‘It’s also beautifully blow-dried and to recreate this at home would take lots of time. Many people whose hair takes a long time to dry would find a keratin treatment good because it can halve the time it takes to dry and increases the hair’s shine and smoothness.’

A salon-based keratin treatment costs upwards of £150 and takes about two-and-a-half hours depending on the length and thickness of your hair.

It begins with a wash using a special shampoo to open up the hair follicles. The hair is then rough-dried by a stylist and when completely dry, a keratin mixture is applied to the entire head with a small brush and combed through to ensure complete coverage.

About 30 minutes later, the stylist will begin blow-drying the mixture to make it bond with your hair.

When the hair is dried into your usual style with the hairdryer, it is divided into sections and a pair of ultra-hot miniature straighteners are used to seal the product into the hair shaft.

Hair must then be left for three days. It cannot be tied back, got wet or tucked behind your ears as this can ‘kink’ it. After washing at home, three days later, unmanageable hair is transformed into glossy tameable locks with no frizz. The treatment lasts for four months before it washes out.

‘Treatment masks are a good option to keep hair healthy, too,’ says Richard, who advises using an intensive conditioning product every other week.

‘Try a silk protein or overnight mask treatment — damaged hair, split ends or dry-looking hair won’t work for this look.’

Richard Ward makes an overnight treatment mask called Seasons Winter Hydrate Kit (£22) which is applied to dry hair 15 minutes before you go to bed and hydrates hair while you sleep without leaving a residue on the pillow.

Maintenance

Another of Kate’s secrets is consistency — at every event she’s appeared at over the past few months her gleaming hair has looked identical. The Duchess has regular visits to the salon and a hair-care routine aimed at maintaining optimum condition.

Want to steal some of Kate’s shine? Obviously the first place to start is a good quality shampoo and conditioner.

‘I recommend that my clients use Kerastase Satin Range or my own Richard Ward Couture Hair HydraSlim range,’ says Richard. ‘It uses technology which repairs damage in hair so, if you use it regularly, you’ll have healthy shiny hair. Damaged hair is frizzy while Kate’s signature look is smooth.’

And how often should we be washing our locks? ‘Generally fine hair might need washing every day, while thicker hair like Kate’s should be washed every other day,’ says Richard.

‘This look is all about being polished and your hair will not shine and gleam on day three.’

Richard says the most crucial part of Kate’s glossy look is the finishing touch - the blow dry

The blow dry

Perhaps the most crucial part of Kate’s glossy look is the finishing touch — the blow dry. ‘The Chelsea Blow Dry is a free-flowing sophisticated way to wear long hair,’ says Richard.

And the good news is, while Kate makes an appointment with the professionals before a public appearance, you can recreate Kate’s mane at home. Richard guides us through the steps:

1. Make sure you leave yourself enough time, it should take about 45 minutes.

First, thoroughly cleanse and condition your hair. ‘Use the flats of your fingers not your fingertips or nails to massage in the product and encourage increased circulation to the scalp,’ says Richard.

Rinse your hair for two minutes to ensure any product residue is removed — hair will shine if rinsed really well. Lightly towel dry.

2. Now apply styling products. Use some blow dry oil or serum (a blob about the size of a five pence piece) and smooth from mid-length to the ends to give lovely sheen. Spritz a root boosting product evenly on the first two inches of hair only.

3. For the shiniest finish, hair shouldn’t be dripping, but 80 per cent wet when you start blowdrying — you’ll get the best results when you still have moisture in your hair.
‘The main mistake people make is waving a hair dryer at it to rough dry it,’ says Richard. ‘It becomes over-dried and hard to style.’

4. ‘Start blow-drying at the front if you’re doing it at home — that’s the bit others will see,’ he says.

It also means that this most visible part will be wet enough to get the best styling results. If you start at the back, by the time you reach the front, your hair may be dry and more difficult to manage.

5. Dry each section using a round brush, pointing downwards — use the nozzle of the dryer to concentrate heat on the section, but make sure you hold it at least five inches away from the hair.

Don’t wiggle the brush around too much — move the hairdryer and brush down the hair shaft at the same speed and smooth downward. Once each section is dry, roll it up in a medium sized Velcro roller (available from Boots or any salon) and pin to your head.

6. Keep the rollers in while you get dressed (ideally for half an hour) and remove just before you leave the house. Once you’ve taken the rollers out, turn your head upside down and run your fingers through your hair to separate out the curls.

Finishing Touches

To help keep your blow- dried tresses in shape, apply a tiny bit of serum to give shine and define layers, then a light mist of hairspray.

‘Whatever you do, don’t brush your hair!’ says Richard. ‘Simply toss your head the right way again and you’re good to go.’



source:dailymail

I’ll wear FIVE outfits in one day, reveals style-icon Kate as she prepares for first Christmas at Sandringham

By Maysa Rawi


Dressed up and dressed down: This week alone, the Duchess has shown she can dress well for any occasion


Spending your first Christmas with the in-laws can be a daunting experience.

But when the occasion involves the Royal family, nerve-wracking is a more fitting description.

The Duchess of Cambridge has admitted that she faces the ultimate wardrobe dilemma for her stay at Sandringham - where she will be expected to change outfits a staggering five times on Christmas day.


Kate confided in a fellow guest at A Night of Heroes at the Imperial War Museum on Sunday night. Saying that she would not be able to repeat an outfit.

Sheridan Bowler, 19, told The Sun: 'She said she was looking forward to Christmas with Prince William's family, and said she had to change dress five times on Christmas Day. I couldn't believe it.'

It's no wonder Kate has been spotted shopping on the King's Road recently, probably in search of suitable pieces for her upcoming trip.

Thankfully the Duchess has a natural instinct for appropriate attire - as she demonstrated in her £350 Ralph Lauren dress at last night's visit to a homeless shelter.

Wardrobe dilemma: The Duchess of Cambridge will need an outfit for church, including a hat, a long dress for dinner and at least one other for lunch


She will no doubt look near perfect for every event.

Royal etiquette expert Jean Broke-Smith told Grazia magazine: 'Kate will need a casual outfit for breakfast, a smart outfit - and a hat - for the morning church service, a dress for lunch, a cocktail dress for early evening drinks and a full-length dress for the evening meal.

'The golden rule is nothing too short, too revealing or too gaudy.'

Pressure: Kate will spend the Christmas with the Royal family at Sandringham


Kate has been seen shopping at Zara, LK Bennett where she has reportedly picked up a black sheath dress and two cashmere cardigans.

For a more high-end look, she is said to have ordered two evening dresses from Alexander McQueen - the label she chose for her wedding gown to marry Prince William.

If the heavy sartorial pace isn't enough pressure, imagine having to pick a Christmas gift for the Queen...


source:dailymail