Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, goes green for St. Patrick's Day

Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, was appropriately decked out in green on Monday for a St. Patrick's Day celebration.

Kate, 32, wore a green coat by Hobbs cinched with a belt and adorned with a gold shamrock brooch. She finished the look with a green hat and heels. William, meanwhile, was dressed in his ceremonial Colonial of the Regiment uniform.

The appearance -- William and Kate's first joint engagement of the year -- came after the two returned from a reported week-long trip to the Maldives, taken without their 7-month-old son, Prince George.

The duchess handed baskets filled with traditional sprigs of shamrock (one of which she had pinned to her own coat) to warrant officers to distribute among the ranks, the Daily Mail reports. She also presented a shamrock to the guards' regimental mascot, an Irish wolfhound named Domhnall.

This is the third year that Kate has taken part in the event. The annual tradition of handing out shamrocks was carried out by the Queen Mother (William's great-grandmother) and then by Princess Anne before being passed on to the Duchess of Cambridge.