Kate Middleton turns up the glamour for last night in New York at lavish St Andrews gala

The Duchess of Cambridge turned heads on the last night of her three-day tour of New York by stepping out in a glamorous blue evening dress.

Kate Middleton and Prince William were attending a gala celebrating St Andrews' 600th anniversary at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Tuesday (9 December).

The royal couple, who were both students at the university, were the guests of honour at the luxury $10,000-a-head event which will fund scholarships and facilities for St Andrews.

The Duchess wore a stunning midnight blue Jenny Packham evening gown with her hair swept back and beamed as she was escorted down the museum's steps by an honour guard of fellow alumni dressed in the university's traditional red gowns and officials wearing kilts.

Middleton has worn the gown previously at the 100 Women in Hedge Funds dinner in October 2013 and at the National Portrait Gallery function in February - but this time she teamed it with stylish black heels, her dazzling engagement ring and long diamond and emerald earrings, which were a private gift.

The Prince looked equally as regal as he walked proudly alongside his wife wearing a dinner suit.

The couple were then escorted to a reception in the museum's Velez Blanco patio, where they mingled with the other 450 guests - who had paid between $2,500 and $10,000 to attend the dinner - surrounded by 16th century marble statues brought over from a castle in Spain.

They later dined in the Temple of Dendur, an opulent room decorated with statues of Egyptian gods that was built specifically to house an Egyptian temple built just before the birth of Christ. The sandstone temple was given to the US in its entirety in 1965.

US comedian and chat show host Seth Meyers gave an entertaining after-dinner toast at the black-tie event.

Meanwhile, opera singer Renee Fleming, a triple-Grammy award-winning soprano, sang Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas and the Puccini aria O Mio Babbino Caro.

Other guests included Princess Eugenie, Vogue editor Anna Wintour and Mary-Kate Olsen, the actress turned fashion designer who is one half of the Olsen twins, and her partner Olivier Sarkozy, half-brother of the former French president.