CULTURE

Kate Middleton Took a Casual Stroll Outside Her House, Much to the Shock and Delight of Passersby

The wilds of the Kensington Palace gardens, that is.


The Duchess Of Cambridge Visits The Foundling Museum
Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images

Kate Middleton is just a regular mom: She plays with her kids at the park, hits up discount stores for last-minute holiday shopping, and, within the next few decades, will become the queen consort to the king of England—just normal mom stuff. This week, Kate was living her regular life—specifically, taking a walk with two of her children outside of her home—and, in doing so, inspired shock and awe in a few lucky bystanders.

According to Hello!, several people couldn’t contain their excitement about their chance encounter with the duchess of Cambridge, and revealed on Twitter that they’d passed by her in the Kensington Gardens on Thursday morning. “In London for 8 hours, walking through Kensington Gardens and who walks past me?! Only Kate Middleton pushing Charlotte in her pushchair with George on his little push-bike,” one wrote. As many noted in their replies to this eyewitness, judging by the time of day, not to mention the fact that George reportedly ditched his training wheels long ago, it’s more likely that Kate was pushing her youngest, Prince Louis, on a bike, while George was likely busy learning how to be an effective future monarch at his preschool.

Somewhat surprisingly, in this era of surreptitious photos of and brazen selfies with celebrities, no photos have yet surfaced of Kate’s morning stroll. In the past, however, when she’s been spotted in public, she’s reportedly politely turned down all requests for photos, so perhaps the Kensington Gardens are simply the last place on Earth where celebrities’ requests for privacy are actually respected.

This isn’t the first time Kate has taken her kids on a casual walk around their backyard, and made several tourists’ entire trips in the process. Just last month, the duchess spent her Valentine’s Day pushing Louis’s stroller through Kensington Gardens, stopping at one point to feed the ducks in the Round Pond. In contrast to the gorgeous Gucci gown she’d worn just the night before for a solo royal outing to a gala at the Victoria and Albert museum, her daytime apparel consisted of a black and white puffer jacket, black leggings, and sporty New Balance sneakers, perhaps the most “regular mom” outfit out there.

Related: Queen Elizabeth II and Kate Middleton Reached a Royal Milestone With Their Appearance Alone in Public