Kate Middleton's Birthday Party Included a Visit With the Queen

Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, turns 38 on Thursday. However, as a busy member of the royal family, she apparently has no time to celebrate on her actual birthday. But, fear not royal fans as she at least celebrated the big day early with a luxurious little gathering fit for a future Queen.

According to reports, her husband, Prince William, put together a little birthday bash at their country home at Anmer Hall in Norfolk over the weekend. While the guest list didn’t include any particularly famous faces it did include all of their closest friends.

People reported the guest list included Kate’s parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, and Prince William’s lifelong friend Tom van Straubenzee and his fiancée, Lucy Lanigan-O’Keeffe. As People noted, O’Keeffe happens to be a teacher at Thomas’s Battersea, the school attended by George and Charlotte. The royal’s other friends included James Meade and his wife, Laura, and David and Rose, the Marquess and Marchioness of Cholmondeley.

But, before you go thinking that this was some raucous event, you may want to take a beat. According to Vanity Fair, the birthday festivities kicked off on Sunday with a church service attended by both Kate’s friends and the Queen.

Other than that details about the bash were kept decidedly under wraps. However, there was one thing about the birthday that did grab everyone’s attention: Kate’s headwear.

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For the church service, Kate wore a gorgeous purple coat from Hicks and Brown and paired it with what Vanity Fair called a “jaunty blue fedora” with an animal print band across it. The fashion choice sent fans into somewhat of a tizzy on social media. So, apparently, that means fedoras are back. Or, at the very least, they are fashionably acceptable for members of the royal elite. As for her actual birthday, odds are Kate will spend it in a highly normal fashion surrounded by her husband and their three adorable children.