Kate Middleton Goes Military-Style Paying Tribute To Her War Hero Grandmother At World War II Park
Kate Middleton goes military-style in a designer outfit while visiting Bletchley Park in England on Wednesday. Huffington Post reports that the Alexander McQueen military-inspired dress is a repeat outfit that the duchess wore for a function in Birmginham while visiting Summerfield Community Centre.
Duchess Kate chose the white double-breasted top and navy pencil skirt from McQueen’s Pre-Fall 2011 collection. Middleton paired the look with a clutch and a pair of navy court heels.
In Daily Mail’s report, Kate went to Bletchley Park where her grandmother, Valerie Glassborow, worked as a codebreaker in World War II. Glassborow’s former colleague, Lady Marion Brody, now 90, talked with Kate about the experience. She was among 9,000 others who unlocked secrets of the German Enigma machine, which was a key in helping Britain win the war. They basically specialized in decoding Nazi messages with early computers.
The Duchess of Cambridge’s paternal grandmother died in 2006. Little did Glassborow know then that her granddaughter would marry the future king of England, or that 70 years after her efforts at the famous park, her granddaughter would make global news by recognizing the role they all played during the war.
Author and historian, Michael Smith, says:
“Women played a variety of roles from lowly clerks to operating machines and breaking into ciphers and codes – the highest level of work you could do at Bletchley Park.”
Smith says Mavis Bately, who died last November at the age of 92, worked at the highest level of code breaking. She began at 19 years of age.
“She was one of the top codebreakers at Bletchley. She’s frequently described as one of the leading female codebreakers but I don’t think that’s fair – she was one of the leading codebreakers full stop.”
While at the park, Kate spent time talking with Lady Brody. Later in her visit, she took the opportunity to work with a Morse Code machine as officials looked on. She also met several other women, now well into their 90s, who worked at Bletchley Park during the Second World War.
Kate also wore a repeat dress at the Order of the Garter ceremony on Monday. She donned a sky-blue coat dress designed by Christopher Kane and hat by Lock & Co.
She was seen smiling at Prince William as he walked by her in a formal parade wearing a full-length blue velvet robe. More about that can be found in this article by The Inquisitr.
[Photo Credit: Chris Jackson via Getty Images/Huffington Post]
