It's The Vampire's Wife & Statement Earrings For Guinness Storehouse Reception

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge concluded their first day in Ireland with a reception at Guinness Storehouse’s Gravity Bar hosted by the British Ambassador to Ireland.

The Duke and Duchess posed for photos upon arrival.

Their first day in Ireland saw William and Kate visit President Michael D Higgins, his wife Sabina (and of course their darling Bernese Mountain dog Bród) at the President's official residence Áras an Uachtaráin. From there, it was a poignant engagement as they retraced the Queen's footsteps by laying a wreath at the Garden of Remembrance which is dedicated to all those who gave their lives in the cause of Irish freedom. Their penultimate engagement was at Government buildings to meet outgoing Taoiseach Leo Varakdar and his partner Matt Barrett.

Tonight's reception was an opportunity to meet a range of people involved in the creative arts as well as sport, business and charitable sectors.

It was hosted by Britain's ambassador to Ireland Robin Barnett, who welcomed the couple earlier today and joined them for afternoon tea with President D Higgins. Mr Barnett has had a fascinating career since he joined the Foreign and Commonwealth office in 1980 as a desk officer for Indonesia and the Philippines. He has also served as Director of UK Visas and Managing Director of the Business Group in UK Trade and Investment. Barnett's career has also concentrated on Eastern Europe and multi-lateral diplomacy. He began his appointment in Ireland in 2016. Below, William and Kate are greeted by the ambassador.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are welcomed to the Gravity Bar at @homeofguinness by Britain’s Ambassador to Ireland Robin Barnett. Kate is wearinga dress by @TheVampiresWife #RoyalVisitIreland 🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/xge54PY7v0

— Emily Nash (@emynash) March 3, 2020

We know William and Kate are major Game of Thrones fans as they have both said how much they enjoy watching the boxset. They were both delighted to meet Irish actor Liam Cunnigham who played Sir Davos on the show.

The Duchess met writer, broadcaster and teacher Sinead Burke. Sinead will be familiar to many of you as she was one of the inspiring women chosen to appear on the Duchess of Sussex's Forces For Change Vogue issue. Sinead is such an incredible young woman. She gave a fantastic Ted Talk in 2017 about the importance of design including everyone. I highly recommend listening to it. You can do so by clicking here.

Hello! reports:

'William asked Joe Mooney, an advance paramedic with the National Ambulance Service: "I bet everyone’s like 'I’ve got Coronavirus, I’m dying', and you’re like 'no, you’ve just got a cough'. Does it seem quite dramatic about Coronavirus at the moment? Is it being a little bit hyped up do you think in the media?" he asked.

"By the way, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are spreading Coronavirus!’” he grimaced in mock horror. “Sorry! We’re keeping an eye on that, so do tell us if we need to stop!”

William and Kate also spent time meeting young sporting stars.

And heard about a range of programmes and initiatives in the capital.

The Guinness Storehouse is a popular tourist attraction at St James's Gate Brewery in Dublin.

It has received over twenty million visitors in the past twenty years. It covers seven floors surrounding a glass atrium shaped in the form of a pint of Guinness.

Inside, there's a number of exhibits, restaurants and bars where guests can enjoy a pint.

The Queen and Prince Philip visited the storehouse as part of their historic 2011 State Visit which we chatted about in more detail earlier today.

The audience laughed as William said: "Ladies and gentlemen let me tell you it is not often that I find myself following the Queen to a pub. But I am looking forward to testing for myself the theory that Guinness tastes even better in Ireland than overseas."

🎥 Prince William at @homeofguinness:
“We are retracing the footsteps of my grandmother, who was shown how to pour the perfect pint here in 2011. Ladies and Gentlemen let me tell you it is not often that I find myself following The Queen to a pub!” 😂 pic.twitter.com/J7DbpD67Ek

— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) March 3, 2020

More on William's speech from Independent.ie:

"Catherine and I are delighted to be here tonight and are both very grateful to Robin for his generous words,’ he said. "Ireland is a country that we have both heard so much about, so we are really excited to be here with you to see it first-hand for ourselves.

"In coming to the Guinness Storehouse, we are retracing the footsteps of my grandmother, who was shown how to pour the perfect pint here in 2011.

"On a slightly more serious note I just wanted to thank all of you in the room for coming here this evening. Thank you for all that you do to support the very special relationship between our two countries. It has been a pleasure to meet so many of you this evening who demonstrate the breadth of our connections across the arts, sports, uniformed services, education and research, and charity sectors.

We value it as we do your friendship and are committed to strengthening it further."

Time to sample a taste from the home of 'The Black Stuff'.

When it came to Kate's sartorial choices, Irish green was very much the order of the day. The Duchess changed from her Catherine Walker coat and Alessandra Rich ensemble into a sparkly emerald number by The Vampire's Wife.

The £1,595 Falconetti dress is described as: "Fabricated from iridescent emerald silk metallic chiffon the "Falconetti" falls to an elegant three quarter length, finished with softly gathered self ruffles at the hem. Slim fitting bodice is precisely shaped to flatter the figure. Three quarter length semi-sheer sleeves edged with ruffles." The dress is available in several colours at Matches Fashion and Net-A-Porter.

A closer look at the shimmering fabric.

Keira Knightley wearing the Falconetti in black and Alexa Chung in berry. Princess Beatrice wore a similar dress by the brand to Elie Goulding's wedding.

The label was founded by Susie Cave, the designer is married to musician Nick Cave.

More on the inspiration behind the brand from their bio:

'Taking its name from her husband Nick Cave’s abandoned book project, The Vampire’s Wife is the design vision of Susie Cave, former model and muse to the great British designers Vivienne Westwood, Bella Freud and Philip Treacy. 

Inspired by her background in fashion The Vampire’s Wife offers luxuriously crafted, elegant and feminine designs in vibrant colours and unique fabrications. Over the last 18 months The Vampire’s Wife have created a collection of clothes that - solely through word-of mouth and a rapidly growing  Instagram following - have been sought out by a range of high profile clients including Cate Blanchett, Kate Moss, Florence Welch, Ruth Negga and Kylie Minogue and have been seen at red carpet events across the Globe.

On the back of this high profile interest, Matches Fashion have bought the full Vampire’s Wife collection with orders selling out and rapidly increasing. Susie’s ultimate vision is to make  high quality, easily-wearable clothes for all women.'

Kate wore the Manolo Blahnik BB pumps in dark green velvet.

And carried her Wilbur & Gussie Charlie gold glitter clutch.

The Duchess completed the look with a pair of statement earrings from H&M (with thanks to Giulia). They retailed for about £10 before going on sale and selling out.

Gabi correctly noted they were first worn for the Royal Foundation dinner in 2018.

To catch up on today's earlier events, click here to read the post.

Tomorrow we'll see the Duke and Duchess carry out a number of engagements in Dublin, Kildare and Meath. The full itinerary will be released in the morning. What do you think of day one?

**This post will be updated shortly**