Kate Middleton planted a tree in honor Queen Elizabeth II

Kate Middleton is honoring her late grandmother-in-law. On Tuesday, Westminster Abbey shared photos of the 40-year-old Princess of Wales planting a tree in honor of Queen Elizabeth II, who died Sept. 8 at age 96.

In the pics, which were taken on Dec. 14, Kate wears a green-and-blue plaid jacket, which she paired with a green sweater dress and knee-high boots.

"Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales dedicated a tree in Dean's Yard at Westminster Abbey to mark the memory of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II," the pics were captioned. "The tree is a wild cherry tree (Prunus avium Plena) from the estate of the Duchy of Cornwall. It replaces a horse chestnut tree that was rotten and suffered with Summer Sudden Limb Drop earlier this year."

"The Princess shovelled the last spadefuls of earth on to the tree and unveiled by a plaque which reads: This wild cherry tree, a gift from the Duchy of Cornwall, was dedicated in memory of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales on 14th December 2022," the post added.

The new tree forms part of The Queen’s Green Canopy, which "is a nationwide initiative created to mark this year’s Platinum Jubilee of HM The late Queen’s accession to the throne."

"The Princess of Wales was welcomed to the Abbey by the Dean, the Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, and members of the Chapter of Westminster," the caption added. "The Abbey’s Head Gardener, Jan Pancheri, and her colleagues Cormac Connolly and Danny Bitten, were presented to the Princess of Wales."

The touching tribute came amid the release of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Netflix docuseries. In Harry & Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex recalled her awkward first meeting with Kate and her husband, Prince William.

"[Meghan had] expected the formality that she recognized in them as a royal couple sort of not be extended behind the closed doors of Kensington Palace, and in fact it was," Nicholl said. "I think our suspicions about this being a pretty cool relationship right from the start have been confirmed here."

Nicholl added of Meghan and Kate's relationship, "Meghan and Kate are two very, very different women, but that's why they were never going to be best friends. Meghan, she interpreted that as coolness, but as far as Kate is concerned, it's not natural for her to go and give a great big bear hug to someone that she hasn't met before. So again, I think those sort of cultural clashes were clearly there, and I think [it's] just different people here."

source: etonline.com