Kate Middleton's Latest Outing Has an Unexpected Tie to the Queen
Alamy Stock Photo Kate Middleton steps out to the V&A on Thursday
Kate Middleton is getting a head start to the glittering holiday season with an outing that tapped into her artistic side.
The Duchess of Cambridge, who earned an art history degree at St. Andrew's University (where she met and fell in love with husband Prince William), visited the Victoria and Albert Museum in London on Thursday to view the Fabergé exhibition, which showcases more than 200 bejeweled objects created by Carl Fabergé.
Kate, 39, has a special connection to the exhibit as three of the famous decorative eggs on display were donated by her grandmother-in-law Queen Elizabeth.
Alamy Stock Photo
As she viewed the exhibit, entitled Fabergé in London: Romance to Revolution, Kate heard about Fabergé's work and the fact that his only branch outside of Russia opened in London in 1903.
RELATED: Kate Middleton Steps Out for a Special School Visit and Shares Her 'Real Passion'
The exhibition features the largest display of Fabergé's legendary Imperial Easter Eggs in a generation, several of which are being shown in the U.K. for the first time. Included in the display are the Third Imperial Egg, which was discovered by a scrap dealer in 2011 (after it went missing almost 50 years earlier in 1964) and the largest, the Moscow Kremlin Egg, which was inspired by the architecture of the Dormition Cathedral in Moscow and features a music box that plays Tsar Nicholas II's favorite hymn. Also on show is the Alexander Palace Egg, which contains a model of the palace inside.
Alamy Stock Photo
The three eggs loaned to the museum by the Queen are the Colonnade Egg, Basket of Flowers Egg and the Mosaic Egg.
The V&A (Victoria and Albert Museum) was established in 1852 to make works of art available to all and to inspire British designers and manufacturers. The Duchess of Cambridge became the first royal patron of the museum in 2018.
Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!
Jeremy Selwyn/AP/Shutterstock Kate Middleton at the V&A
Today, the V&A's collections, which span over 5000 years of human creativity in virtually every medium and from many parts of the world, continue to intrigue, inspire and inform.
Next week, Kate is set to host a spectacular Christmas carol concert at Westminster Abbey that will highlight the heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic and celebrate how communities have come together.
