Kate Middleton Delivers First Speech at The Treehouse Launch

Taking care of her charitable pursuits, Kate Middleton was spotted at the opening of The Treehouse in Ipswich, Suffolk, England on Monday (March 19).

The Duchess of Cambridge looked beautiful in a blue Reiss belted dress as she posed for the paparazzi at the EACH-run hospice as part of her Royal patronage of East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Duchess Kate makes her first public speech


Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, makes her first-ever public speech since marrying Prince William, speaking as Royal Patron of the charity East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices. NBC’s Keir Simmons reports.
>>> kate middleton , who just wrapped up her first speech as a royal in ipswich, england. as usual people are talking as much about what she said as what she was wearing. the palace is calling this an electric blue dress from fashion house reitz. how did the speech go over?

>> hey, savannah, good morning. i'll tell you, sif she is nervous she isn't looking it at all. she arrived wearing that blue dress , borrowed from her mother, i'm told. perhaps a little bit of good luck from her mother there. the speech, she went up to chat to some of the children from the hospice for which she is a patron. i understand is that she wrote the speech herself. it wasn't very long. just about four minutes. but here's some of what she had to say.

>> i feel honored to be here to see this wonderful center. i'm only sorry that william can't be here today. he would love it here. a view of his that i share is that through teamwork, so much can be achieved. what you've all achieved here is extraordinary. you, as a community, have built the treehouse, a group of people who have made every effort to support and help each other.

>> saying again there that she misses william. a sentiment she's expressed before. we expect him back at some point this week. but in terms of the speech, speaking slowly and professionally. savannah, quite some contrast to diana 's first speech some 30 years ago. back then diana looked nervous, talking quickly. of course, two very different women, and kate probably has had some training for this speech. one point, though, diana , back 30 years ago, and kate today, both wearing blue for their first speech.

>> and i think diana had to speak in welsh. so a little more difficult for her here.

>> she did.

>> is this something we expect to see more often? do we expect to see more from kate ?

>> oh, yeah, i think now that she's got this out of the way you'll see her speaking more. you know, this was just sort of putting the toe in the water if you like. it was a very simple speech, just saying thank you for the charity for which she's patron. i think she'll start to express more views as the weeks and months go on.

>> we look at that live picture from ipswich, england this morning, we say well done to kate . thanks so much.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy