Kate Middleton shows off baby bump as she braves the cold in dress and heels as she visits the National Portrait Gallery
PREGNANT Kate Middleton braved the freezing temperatures this evening when she arrived at a special exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery.
The Duchess of Cambridge showed off her growing baby bump as she visited the gallery in a £490 floral frock by Orla Kiely, blue suede heel and Kiki McDonough earrings.
As the "Beast from the East" continued to take hold of the UK, Kate, who is due to give birth to her third child in April, snubbed a winter coat and chose to go bare-legged.
The Duchess has been the gallery's patron since 2012 and was tonight visiting a preview of the exhibition Victorian Giants: The Birth of Art Photography ahead of its opening to the public tomorrow.
She was asked to select images from the exhibition to write captions for and has also written a foreword to the catalogue.
Kate beamed with delight throughout her arrival - clearly unbothered by the -10C temperatures.
Ahead of her visit, the gallery said: "This is the first exhibition at the gallery to include a Patron's trail, in which the Duchess will select a number of portraits which will be displayed with additional information labels that will be written by Her Royal Highness."
In her foreword, Kate wrote: "As a Patron of the National Gallery, and an enthusiastic amateur photographer, I am delighted to support Victorian Giants.
"This captivating book and the accompanying exhibition bring together works by Julia Margaret Cameron, Lewis Carroll, Oscar Rejlander and Clementina Hawarden for the first time, to explore the birth of art photography in England.
"This period in the history has long interested me.
"As a student at the University of St. Andrews, I chose it as the subject of my undergraduate thesis and photographs of children in particular, which feature predominantly in the exhibition, are of real interest to me."