The Middleton family took thrift to a new level yesterday when the Duchess of Cambridge, while making her first public speech, wore a dress that her mother borrowed from her two years ago.
The deep blue £139 Reiss dress, with a wide black belt, was bought by the duchess some time ago, a royal aide said, and is identical to the one worn by her mother, Carole, at Royal Ascot in 2010.
The duchess, who has worn a succession of outfits bought at sales in recent weeks, is in Ipswich to open The Treehouse, part of the East Anglia's Children's Hospices, of which she is the patron.
It is not the first time she has worn clothes thought to have been borrowed from her mother.
A white hat that Carole Middleton wore at Ascot was later worn by the duchess at the wedding of Hugh van Cutsem, and a red lace-trimmed dress by Colette Diningham was worn by Carole at a Royal Academy summer preview and then by the duchess at the wedding of her friends, Thomas Sutton and Harriet Colthurst.
The duchess said she was "deeply moved" by the work of the staff at The Treehouse.
She delivered her maiden speech slowly and carefully, sticking precisely to her script, without any ad-libs.
Appearing nervous at first, she said: "What you have all achieved here is extraordinary.
"You as a community have built the Treehouse, a group of people who have made every effort to support and help each other.
"Far from being a clinical, depressing place for sick children, it is a home. "
Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package. 