The Princess of Wales stepped out in London on Tuesday as she paid a visit to the V&A East Storehouse.

The V&A’s latest offering is a new cultural destination created to spotlight the importance of creative opportunity and creative expression. It has been created in partnership with young people and is inspired by east London’s creative heritage.

The three-storey attaction on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, which opened its doors on 31 May this year, is a reimagining of a museum store and provides guests with unprecedented access to over half a million creative works from the V&A collections and archives.

It features an array of works spanning fashion, film, visual art, design, performance and more.

During her visit, Catherine received a behind-the-scenes tour to find out more about how the space is used and the cultural destination’s “order an object” system.

The royal asked to be shown a plethora of items, including a large William Morris samples book, rolls of ornate textiles and a musical instrument.

She also met with the curatorial team to learn about why objects are collected, and how they are conserved and displayed.

Catherine, who is patron of the V&A, told its deputy director and chief operating officer Tim Reeve: “It’s so eclectic”.

The royal mother-of-three also spoke to the Storehouse’s new collections access team, before later admiring several of the objects stored, including a collection of riding habits and a smart black and gold coat dress by Alexander McQueen.

For the London outing, Princess Catherine, 43, looked her usual stylish self in a recycled navy suit crafted by one of her go-to British designers, Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen.

She previously wore the two-piece back in December 2023 as she paid a visit to the Evelina London Children’s Hospital.

She wore her flowing chestnut locks down loose in elegant waves, and accessorised with pointed heels, a pair of statement drop earrings in blue and cream, and a chunky gold chain necklace.

The V&A East Storehouse has been designed by leading architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

It is the first of V&A East’s two new cultural destinations to open in east London. The second, V&A East Museum, is due to open next spring.

Princess Catherine’s return to duties

Catherine made a quiet return to duties last week after spending the May school half-term with her children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

According to the Court Circular, the royal held an Early Years Meeting at Windsor Castle on Wednesday.

Catherine launched the Centre for Early Childhood in 2021 after a decade of royal duties. She subsequently launched the Shaping Us campaign in 2023 to further shine a spotlight on the importance of early childhood development, from pregnancy until the age of five.