Kate Middleton, Prince William honor war vets on Poppy Day - Los Angeles Times
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Kate Middleton, Prince William honor war vets on Poppy Day

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Kate Middleton and Prince William commemorated London Poppy Day by making a surprise appearance Thursday at a London Tube Station.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge took a chartered 1960s Routemaster bus -- one of London’s famed double-deckers -- from the High Street Kensington station, just a quarter mile from their Kensington Palace home, in order to visit volunteers and poppy sellers to raise funds for war veterans, the Telegraph reported.

The royal British Legion’s “Poppy Day” rounded up about 2,000 volunteers in London’s streets to help raise $1.6 million in one day to benefit Britain’s war dead ahead of Remembrance Sunday, the Associated Press reported.

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PHOTOS: Kate Middleton through the years

Meanwhile, William’s younger brother, Prince Harry, joined their grandfather, Prince Philip, at Westminster Abbey in a ceremony commemorating fallen soldiers, AP said.

Prince George’s parents, both 31, pinned red poppies to their coats for the Thursday event to commemorate war casualties. For the occasion, the duchess wore a long red belted L.K. Bennett coat, which aptly matched the poppies and her selected mode of transportation.

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It isn’t the first time we’ve seen the royals take public transportation recently. Back in March, Middleton, Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, boarded London’s Underground trains to celebrate 150 years of the transit system. Since the duchess was pregnant with George at the time, she was presented with a “baby on board” pin. (Adorbs, right?)

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The new parents also revealed that they had finally settled into their new home at Kensington Palace: A 21-room apartment.

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“It’s quite nice being in one place,” Wills told the volunteers (via People).

Their recently christened 3½-month old son was “half asleep,” Kate told comedian Barbara Windsor.

“He’s behaving himself this morning,” William said.

To the British media’s delight, not everything was picture perfect for the royal couple. Tabloids played up the new mom’s few gray hairs, which were noticeable from her center part, the Daily Mail noted.

Hey, she’s a new mom and a royal. It’s stressful.

PHOTOS: Prince George’s christening

But it’s not as if her brunet mane is necessarily the last thing on her mind: The Telegraph reported last month that Middleton already booked a hairdresser for her tour of Australia with her husband in 2014.

In other royal news, Taylor Swift is set to perform at the royals’ Winter Whites Gala on Nov. 26 along with Jon Bon Jovi and James Blunt. The winter wonderland-themed event is aimed to benefit the homeless youth charity Centrepoint, which the duke has been working with since 2005.

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She’s pretty “excited” about it too.

“I’m really stoked. This is my first thing I’ve performed at for any kind of royal engagement and I’m very, very honored,” the country-pop singer told BBC Radio 2.

PHOTOS: Kate Middleton through the years

However, the 23-year-old said she’s already inquired what protocol might be when it comes to meeting a member of the royal family.

“I’ve been asking about that,” Swift said of etiquette. “I think I’m really safe if I just shake hands and be polite.”

But she made no assumptions about actually getting to meet Prince William or anyone else.

“That’s being presumptuous in that assuming I’ll meet them,” she added. “First, I’ll just be polite enough to not assume I’m going to get to meet them.”

How lady-like.

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Follow Ministry of Gossip @LATcelebs.

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