PA The Duchess of Cambridge looking like a princess
When the Duchess of Cambridge made a private visit last week to an art therapy charity she dressed down in jeans and a jumper.
But not everyone approved of fashion icon Kate's decision to dress in a relaxed style. The venue for her visit was an inner London primary school, Robert Blair Primary School, where young pupils had been gathered for 45 minutes in the car park to witness the big event.
And when Kate finally emerged from her fact-finding mission, her young fans were distinctly unimpressed, complaining: 'She doesn't look like a Princess. Where's her dress?'
The Duchess of Cambridge, 29, made the private visit to the Robert Blair primary school in Islington on Wednesday afternoon to find out more about The Art Room, a charity that works with challenging children and has a branch at the school.
'Kate was dressed down in jeans and a jumper,' a 21-year-old local woman who was collecting her three-year-old brother from the school told The Mail on Sunday.
"The children had been told by the headmaster Mr Miller and the deputy headmaster Mr Murphy that a real-life princess was coming to the school.
"They were so excited and were all told to wait in the car park to see her. When I got there, some of the children were so tired they were sitting on the ground.
"When she came out of The Art Room after the visit, Mr Miller walked her to her car. She posed for a picture and waved at the children before she was driven off.
Some of the little ones were very confused. They were saying things like, 'She doesn't look like a Princess. Where's her dress?' They didn't believe it was the Princess they had seen on the television.
Parents were only informed of the VIP visitor when they received a text from the school, which read: "If your child comes home and says they saw Kate Middleton today, it's true! We had a surprise visit from the DOC to The Art Room."
Kate, whose degree at St Andrew's University was in history of art, is said to be keen to work with The Art Room, which is based in Oxford but has its London branch at the Robert Blair primary school.
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The charity pledges to 'increase self-esteem, self-confidence and independence through art' and works with children aged from five to 16 who are disruptive or withdrawn or have learning difficulties.
A spokesman confirmed Kate had been to visit them, saying: "The Duchess of Cambridge paid a private visit to The Art Room in order to find out more about what we do and gain a wider experience of the work within this sector."
A spokesman for the Duchess said she has not decided which patronages she will take on but confirmed that The Art Room is one she is interested in working with.
The spokesman added: "It was one of a number of meetings, part of the Duchess getting to know the charitable sector. The Art Room wrote to her and caught her eye. She went to find out more about their work."