5 ways to colour in Kate

How a 2016 version of colouring in Kate might look

(photo Kensington Royal Instagram, pencil effects added later)

There is much excitement today after a book where you can colour in Kate was found on sale in a giftshop run by Historic Royal Palaces. Before you get too excited, this book was first published in 2013 and has been on sale just about everywhere for the best part of four years. Colour in Kate isn't alone in bringing pencil sketches of the Duchess of Cambridge into one handy tome for crayoning and pencilling. If this latest story has got you interested (and we know, thanks to William, that Kate loves a bit of colouring in herself), then here are 5 ways to get crafty with Kate.

Colour in Kate on the HRP website

(screen grab)

Let's start with the book causing all the hoo-haa today. Quite why Colour in Kate being sold in royal giftshops is a big deal is still to be explained. After all, you can get mugs and tea towels featuring the royals, so why not a crayon book? This version features outfits from 2011 - 2013 - it was published just weeks before Prince George was born so this is early Kate. Drawn by artist Georgie Fearns, it features 31 images of the Duchess of Cambridge to colour in. 

Georgie Fearns is also responsible for Dress Up Kate, the sticker book which was published in 2012. This one is billed as a chance to mix and match stickers to create outfits of your own and it's targetted at 6-9 year olds, like the colouring book. Published by Buster Books it's currently a much cheaper option for anyone looking to get crafty with Kate - Amazon has it from 1p.

If colouring isn't your thing (let's face it, the big chunks are fine but the fiddly bits can be so annoying), then maybe a cut out and keep Kate is a better option. Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge Paper Dolls by Eileen Miller came out in 2014 and also features Prince George (hooray) and Prince William (that's fine). It's billed as a fun way for kids to enjoy crafts and one buyer on Amazon talked about telling her grandkids how she'd done the same thing with a paper doll book about the Queen's Coronation which only goes to show that getting crafty with the royals is a long time tradition.

Eileen Miller has also turned her hand to colouring books and is the artist behind Kate, The Duchess of Cambridge's Royal Fashions Colouring Book which was published in December 2015 by Dover Children's. This book includes thirty pages of Kate's outfits to colour in - including her wedding gown. And for all aspiring Kate wardrobe followers, there is a full description of designer with every outfit.  

If you need a bit more variety in your royal crafting, then Carlton Books provided Kate & Pippa, Dress-Up Sticker Book. Published in 2012, this book gives you the chance to stick Kate in Pippa's clothes and see what the younger Middleton sister would look like dressed as a duchess. You've got 24 pages and over 100 stickers to get through here as well as the possibility of an update when Pippa marries later this year and we all get to see Kate doing sister of the bride. Crayons and glue at the ready, the colouring in phase isn't done yet.

Photos - Amazon screen grabs. If you are interested in the books, then the links in each section will take you to the Amazon page for them. Happy crafting...