Kate and William celebrate St Patrick's Day

The shamrock is a symbol of the lucky Irish - but the Duchess of Cambridge had a spot of bother when she struggled to pin the sprig to an army mascot dog in Hampshire. Kate, 33, presented the bunches of clovers to soldiers from the Irish Guards to mark St Patrick's Day.

But as she bent down to pin the sprig on the silver collar of the regiment's beloved mascot, Irish wolfhound Domhnall, it kept falling off. Quartermaster Major Paul Fagin had to step in to give the royal a hand at the ceremony in Mons Barracks, Aldershot.

The dog handler Drummer Dean Kirk said:

"It wouldn't go on his collar, we had a bit of trouble with the shamrock. The shamrock fell off."

Kate later joked about the mishap with three children who presented her with a posy of white flowers. She told eight year-old Ciara Flynn and her twin sisters Leah and Eva, both six, that it was tricky. The girls' mother Mrs Flynn, 41, whose husband Mark is company sergeant major of the regiment, said: "She spoke about giving the dog the shamrock, and said it didn't stay on for very long."

The three year-old dog, who weighs 73kg, the equivalent of 11-and-a-half stone, was treated to a sip of Guinness after the ceremony. Kate, who is due to give birth next month, beamed as she arrived at the ceremony with the Duke of Cambridge. She covered her baby bump in a chic brown coat by Catherine Walker and wore a matching brown hat by Lock & Co.

Pinned to her coat was the gold shamrock brooch which was originally presented by the Irish Guards to the Queen Mother - who traditionally led the ceremony when she was alive.

William, 32, attended the traditional parade as Colonel of the Regiment and wore a navy blue frock coat. The couple spent around an hour at the parade and chatting happily to soldiers and their families afterwards.

The Duchess of Cambridge has been handing out sprigs of shamrock to soldiers in Aldershot to mark St Patrick's Day. It's believed it will be her last official engagement before she has her second child.

Their Royal Highnesses, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are the guests of honour at this year's Irish Guards' St Patrick's Day Parade in Aldershot.

Her Royal Highness will once again present the traditional sprigs of shamrock to the Officers and Guardsmen on Tuesday 17th 200 soldiers will march on to the parade square at their base, Mons Barracks marching behind the Band of the Irish Guards; they will, of course, be accompanied by Domhnall their Irish Wolf Hound regimental mascot, who will receive his own sprig of shamrock from the Duchess.

This is her last public engagement for the duchess prior to the birth of her second child.