Caring Duchess Kate donates £300K to charity

Beautiful bride: Kate Middleton walking into Westminster Abbey to marry Prince William©Rex Features

Kate Middleton is believed to have received a £300,000 cheque as a thank you for allowing her wedding dress to go on show at Buckingham Palace last summer.

But the Duchess of Cambridge didn’t splash the cash on clothes or material possessions, instead putting it to good use and donating it to the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.

The foundation concentrates on three main areas - promoting the welfare of the Armed Forces, helping young people build thier skills and confidence, and supporting conservation projects - and the money will help them carry out even more good work.

Kate, 30, was presented with the cheque after allowing her stunning Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen lace gown to go on show at the palace’s summer exhibition, which drew in huge crowds.

And  the gown made a truly striking addition to the exhibition. Boasting lace hand-cut flowers which were hand-engineered onto ivory silk tulle, and a bodice and skirt made of English lace and French Chantilly lace, the gown – which was finished off with a two metres 70 centimetres train – was a beautiful sight to see.

Fashion lovers and Royalists alike rushed for their chance to view the gown ‘commoner’ Kate Middleton wore before she married into the Royal family and became known as the Duchess of Cambridge.

In addition to the dress, Kate’s hand-made shoes, the diamond earrings she wore on the big day, which were a gift from her parents, Carole and Michael, and the 1936 Cartier halo tiara, loaned to Kate for the wedding by the Queen, were also on show.

The bridal pieces were such a huge pull for visitors that it is believed that they are the reason behind a huge boost in ticket sales, with more than £10 million being spent on tickets for the Buckingham Palace exhibition – up £3.5 million from last year.

Sales in the palace's shops were also much increased, up by around almost £1.7million to £3.87 million.

CARING DUCHESS:

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