Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, wore a Dh275 printed midi from Marks & Spencer in a recent Zoom call. Twitter / Kensington Palace
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, wore a Dh275 printed midi from Marks & Spencer in a recent Zoom call. Twitter / Kensington Palace
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, wore a Dh275 printed midi from Marks & Spencer in a recent Zoom call. Twitter / Kensington Palace
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, wore a Dh275 printed midi from Marks & Spencer in a recent Zoom call. Twitter / Kensington Palace

Kate Middleton wears Dh275 Marks and Spencer dress for Zoom call – and you can find it in the UAE


Emma Day
  • English
  • Arabic

With a penchant for luxury labels including Alexander McQueen and Jenny Packham, it's not always feasible to follow in Kate Middleton's high-fashion footsteps.

However, the Duchess of Cambridge is also known to turn to high-street brands from time to time, and her latest ensemble can be snapped up for a rather reasonable price.

The best news? It's also available here in the UAE.

The royal sported a printed midi dress by Marks and Spencer for a recent Zoom call, which will be released on social media on Thursday, June 18.

The duchess hosted a virtual assembly for the Oak National Academy, an online portal that provides teachers with video lessons and learning resources.

In the teaser clip for the video call, which will be released in full at 10am (1pm UAE time), Middleton can be seen in the Printed Yoke Midi Waisted Dress.

The summery design, which forms part of the M&S Collection, is scattered in a delicate cabbage print, with gently puffed sleeves and an elasticated waist.

The dress retails for £39.50 in the UK, and is also available on Marks and Spencer's UAE website for Dh275. At the time of writing, the design was in stock, and comes in both regular and long lengths.

Middleton, 38, will speak on the importance of practising kindness in the virtual assembly, and was joined by students from the Waterloo Primary Academy in Blackpool, UK, for the video call.

A teaser clip of the virtual chat features the duchess asking children: “Who wants to tell me what kindness means?”

This isn't the first time the royal has sported Marks and Spencer while working remotely, with the mum of three also donning a pink suit from the storied British brand in March.

Middleton was photographed in her Kensington Palace office dressed in the blush two-piece.

Swipe to see the image below:

The two pieces retail separately, with the jacket costing Dh675 and the trousers Dh395.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

How to wear a kandura

Dos

  • Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion 
  • Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
  • Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work 
  • Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester

Don’ts 

  • Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal 
  • Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
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Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history

Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)

Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.

 

Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)

A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.

 

Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)

Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.

 

Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)

Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.