Despite the rainy weather when they arrived, William and Kate were warmly greeted by locals.
The Duchess arriving.
Hello Blackpool!
The couple travelled to the seaside town to see a series of innovative projects that are focused on investment and regeneration, as well as learning how the resort is leading the way in tackling some of the social and mental health problems faced by people in Britain today.
No visit to Blackpool would be complete without a stop at the iconic Blackpool Tower, one of the UK's most famous landmarks.
Blackpool Tower was opened to the public in 1894. Inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris, it is 518 feet tall and is the 120th-tallest freestanding tower in the world.
Inside, they joined a roundtable briefing about the town’s recent history, the challenges, and the investment and regeneration efforts that are currently underway.
Next, they spent time in the world famous Tower Ballroom. They watched dancers waltz to I Shall See You Later, played on the Wurlitzer by Chris Hopkins.
Dating back to 1894 it is known for its unique sprung dance floor and spectacular architecture and remains to this day a destination for dance fans from across the globe. Fans of Strictly Come Dancing will recognise the ballroom from 'Blackpool Week'.
Outside, they were greeted by locals on Comedy Carpet in the promenade.
Blackpool's Comedy Carpet has been compared to the Hollywood Walk of Fame; instead it immortalises and celebrates the jokes and songs of Britain’s most well loved comedians and writers. The well known Bruce Forsythe phrase 'Nice to see you, to see you nice' takes centre stage.
This man seemed particularly pleased to meet the Duchess :)
More from the Mail Online:
'On a walkabout outside the Tower as they visited the Comedy Carpet on the promenade, Kate told well-wishers she hoped to bring her children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis to visit Blackpool next time.
She joked: 'Is the weather always like this?' The duchess expressed her disappointment at not going up the Tower. 'No we didn't. Next time I think. There's so much here the children would love as well. Hopefully next time we'll bring them back.' As one little girl shouted 'Hello princess', Kate waved and smiled.
Children from Happy Tots nursery in North Shore, Blackpool, welcomed them with gifts of Blackpool rock and posies of flowers. William said his children would appreciate the rock. When he asked them what flavour the rock was, the youngsters replied: 'Blackpool.'
Prince William greets the crowds.
Kate chatted with locals about the weather, she said "It's been really exciting to visit".
The Duchess of Cambridge is greeting the crowds outside the @TheBplTower and we managed pass her a small gift for the family #RoyalVisitBlackpool pic.twitter.com/Uo4FrDi0PU— VisitBlackpool (@visitBlackpool) March 6, 2019
The Duchess met a very special lady who raised funds for her patronage Place2Be following a personal loss. More from The Mirror:
Kate was given beautiful flowers.
The little girls didn't forget William, they presented him with a paper crown.'Among the spectators on the promenade was Andrea Bellamy, 31, from Wigan, who had arrived at 9am to get a good spot. She was rewarded with a two-minute conversation with the Duchess, who offered her condolences to Mrs Bellamy.
Mrs Bellamy raised £1,250 in a skydive last summer for Place2be, a children’s mental health charity, who Kate is the patron for. She said: “It was a dream come to true to meet her. “I told her about how I lost a close family member to suicide last year and how important it is to get early intervention. “She said she was sorry and I thanked her for everything that the charity is doing for mental health.
Kate's act of warmth comes after Prince William was reminded of his mum Princess Diana on the trip. As the couple arrived inside the iconic Blackpool Tower, they paused to look at a large mirror that was unveiled by Diana in 1992 to mark the opening of Tower World. Prince William smiled, saying 'fantastic' and 'amazing' as they stopped to observe the mirror.'
Kate was given beautiful flowers.
'The royal mom and Prince William greeted fans for half an hour during their visit to the seaside town on Wednesday, causing their engagement to run over by about 15 minutes despite the showers.
Although the couple popped open umbrellas when they arrived to Blackpool Tower – where they joined a roundtable briefing about the town’s recent history and the investment underway to rejuvenate it – Kate declined using an umbrella during the crowd meet-and-greet to ensure that even those toward the back of the group would be able to see her.
She was given some souvenir t-shirts for her kids – matching gifts given to the late Princess Diana when Prince William and Prince Harry were small boys, worn by the princes when Diana visited Richard Branson’s Necker Island resort in the early 1990s. “I gave her the t shirts and two mugs and told her that we still have the picture of William and Harry wearing our t-shirts in our office,” says Mandy Tythe-McCallum from Visit Blackpool. “She said she would tell William and she said thanks and that she’s pass them along. She was lovely.”
From there, it was an embargoed engagement for the royal couple.
They visited a poorly maintained former boarding house on Kirby Road which is in a terrible state of disrepair. Housing is a critical issue in Blackpool, the couple saw the realities of the town’s housing problems and the significant work under way to resolve these.
In February, it was announced Blackpool Council planned to borrow £41 million to drive its housing programme forward. The Gazette reported: "Blackpool Housing Company has bought more than 100 properties and some of the projects already undertaken and converted them into around 300 homes, including conversions of problematic properties in Albert Road, have been praised for the quality of the improvement works and the positive regenerative impact on the local community. The housing company was launched with an initial funding pot of £27m, secured through the Lancashire Growth Deal, with the aim of dramatically improving private sector housing standards across the resort and delivering the kind of affordable homes in which individuals and families would want to put down roots."
Across the road, William and Kate visited Christina Jackson in a similar house which has been purchased and upgraded. Over the past year, around 50 bedsits in the area have now become 13 good quality homes for families.
Whilst it's wonderful to see the royals highlighting well known areas in towns and cities, it's also very important to shine a spotlight on issues residents are facing, which is why I thought this engagement a particularly important one. Reporter Rebecca English was told the visit "was quite an eye-opener " for the couple.
William and Kate travelled to Blackpool Central Library where they joined two separate discussions focussing on issues and initiatives of particular relevance to each of their ongoing charitable interests.
The Duchess met a group of people involved in Blackpool’s ‘A Better Start’ programme, including health visitors, practitioners from the Family Nurse Partnership, and parents. The session discussed the impact of long-term investment in mothers, fathers and children in their early years.
William met people affected by problems around mental health, including issues such as homelessness and addiction, and met people making a difference through the innovative work locally.
Then the couple were introduced to representatives of the emergency services and first responder community.
More from the Mail:
'Best friends Louise West, 34, and Steven Brown, 40, who described themselves jokingly as 'the other Wills and Kate', met the royal couple during a visit to Blackpool Central Library, where they heard about a number of mental health projects in the town.
One scheme was Jobs, Friends and Houses, which helps ex-offenders to transform and better their lives with around-the-clock support to help them find employment and provide accommodation. Ms West told William and Kate how she became addicted to drugs from the age of 13 but had not used for two years. She said she left Oldham where she was a victim of domestic violence to go to Blackpool near her mother.
She said she was working on her recovery every day but she had started to enjoy life and had even sat her GCSEs at the same time as her daughter. With her 17-year-old daughter at sixth form college, Ms West said she would like to study psychology in the future.
Ms West told the couple: 'Somebody said to me that meeting the royals would be one the highlights of your life but the highlight for me was recently when I dropped my daughter off at her friend's house and she asked me to come in and meet her friend's parents. 'That had never happened before she was embarrassed to walk past me in the street in Oldham when I was six-and-half stone.'
Kate asked her: 'What's your main message to people?' Ms West replied: 'Any addict can get clean and stay clean.'
Finally, the Duke and Duchess visited Revoe Park, a recently revamped community garden and park that has been transformed thanks to involvement from ‘A Better Start’.
The park had previously been a known location for drug use, in an area of significant deprivation, yet is now a great example of how a long-term community led initiative can transform lives and provide new opportunities.
In particular the park is helping young children experience gardening and the outdoors, as well as providing space and activities that allow parents, particularly men, to talk about mental health.
Jack gave Kate a woodland necklace with her name on it.
Kate wore her much loved green Sportsmax coat.
The Duchess first wore the coat on Christmas Day 2015 and again in February 2016 for a day of engagements in Edinburgh. Kate also wore it for Sunday Service at Sandringham in 2017.
The Long Belted Coat is made of green virgin wool and comes from the Sportsmax Autumn/Winter 2015 Collection. It features a V neckline and two deep side pockets. It originally retailed for $1,800.
The Duchess teamed the coat with the very stylish £158 peacock print MICHAEL Michael Kors Women's Midi Dress in joule green.
A closer look at the print.
The Duchess carried her Manu Atelier Green Micro Bold Leather Shoulder Bag (with thanks to UFO No More). The green leather/suede combination is currently sold out, however the bag is available in green leather here.
The Duchess accessorised with her Kiki McDonough cushion cut green amethyst and diamond earrings.
Middleton Maven suggests Kate's boots are an older Ralph Lauren style.
Kate completed the look with a black scarf.
A closer look at Kate's stylish ponytail.
I very much enjoyed seeing so many quotes from the day. I thought the itinerary was well planned, focusing on tourism, issues close to William and Kate's heart and shining a light on housing issues in Blackpool. Away Days tend to offer a lot more variety and interactions, today encompassed all those elements. Following on from their recent visit to Dundee, where they spoke to local factory workers who will be made redundant next year, a Palace aide told reporters we could expect to see more engagements highlighting difficulties around the UK. I'm really looking forward to seeing this develop in the coming months.
We'll see William and Kate on Monday for the annual Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey. It will be televised live on the BBC at 2.15 pm.
