Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, Praised for First Royal Speech [SLIDESHOW]

Kate Middleton has marked one of her major milestones as a fully-fledged royal by delivering her first public speech.

The 30-year-old Duchess of Cambridge spoke at the opening of the Treehouse, a hospice run by East Anglia's Children's Hospices in Ipswich, England.

Dressed in a blue Reiss dress, thick black belt and black court shoes she looked confident as she addressed visitors, staff, parents and children.

In a brief speech she paid tribute to the facility's efforts in helping children with life-threatening conditions and thanked the charity for accepting her as a patron.

She praised the hospice for its "inspirational" work during her maiden public speech as a royal.

Middleton later got stuck in planting a commemorative tree in the grounds.

The Treehouse hospice is part of one of the carefully selected group of charitable organisations Middleton said in January she act as patron for.

International Business Times UK has a look at Kate Middleton's memerable day.