Royal Visit: Duchess to make first public speech

IPSWICH: The Duchess of Cambridge is set to make her first public speech shortly.

Kate, the royal patron of East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH), is being taken on a tour around the facility in St Augustine’s Gardens, where she will be planting a commemorative tree to mark her visit.

She is touring the facilities such as the sensory room and music room and is meeting children and their families who receive care and support from the hospice service. A private tour of the bedrooms and care area is also being given.

Ahead of her arrival, hundreds of residents lined the barriers enjoyed a colourful party atmosphere created by a street performance art group of adults and young people staging a display of music, dance and acrobatics.

Performers posed on small stands while doing the splits and stilt walkers in bright costumes waved Union flags while drummers played a hypnotic beat.

When Kate arrived, a polite cheer went up from the crowd as she stepped from her chauffeur-driven vehicle and walked up the long drive to the hospice wearing an blue Reiss dress.

In a message of support included in a brochure to accompany the opening of the centre, the Duchess wrote: “Each is a world leader in the way it cares for children with life-threatening conditions and their families, and is at the very forefront of children’s palliative care.”

She added: “I have been deeply moved by the work of EACH’s dedicated staff - and by the environment of support for families.”