The Duchess of Cambridge’s Gleaming Shamrock for St. Patrick’s Day

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge headed to Aldershot this morning, arriving at Mons Barracks to celebrate the holiday with the 1st Battalion Irish Guards. William has been the Honorary Colonel of the Irish Guards since February 2011, and you’ll remember him wearing the distinctive uniform of the regiment for his wedding later that year. Kate has presented shamrocks to the Guards on St. Patrick’s Day several times since March 2012.

William and Kate posed with the regiment for a formal photograph during their visit to the Barracks. Kate’s festive green ensemble—a coat by Laura Green and a hat from Lock & Co.—stood out nicely in the picture.

Kate presented shamrocks to everyone gathered for the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade, including the littlest and most adorable attendants.

She even presented a shamrock to the regiment’s mascot, a gorgeous Irish wolfhound named Turlough Mὸr (and nicknamed “Seamus”).

Here’s a closer look at the springs of shamrocks that Kate distributed during the event.

Appropriately, Kate wore jewels with emerald touches for the day, including a very important brooch.

This is the Irish Guards Brooch, a shamrock made of textured gold with a small emerald set in its center. Kate has been the exclusive wearer of the brooch since 2011, but it belongs to the Irish Guards, and it’s been worn over the years by various other women. Both the Queen Mother and the Princess Royal have worn it to present shamrocks to the regiment over the years.

Kate usually pairs the brooch with earrings that have green stones. Today, as she’s done several times before, she wore her classic emerald and diamond cluster earrings. The earrings are small, but they bring a lot of bright green sparkle to the ensemble.